Village of the Bijuu
by Akuma Kon
Summary: Naruto is adopted by the uchiha at the age of six. read as the entire story spins in all new directions. Very AU. First Fanfic. NaruHina. Rated M for later chapters. Enjoy. Chapter 11 has been partially fixed. useless updates may have been removed.
1. The story begins

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. All oc's are mine. (Angry glare) Stay back, BEEPING plagiarizers

AN: this is my first fanfic, so don't be too cruel with your judgments of doom… anyway, I am a member of the military, and as such have little free time to convert my story into type. Soon I will be deployed to Afghanistan, and no I can't tell you where. While there I can type up the stories I wrote and will be able to add and update when I return in ohhh, one and a half years. Sorry for such a long wait, but maybe I will have internet over there. Who knows? Enjoy. Pairings are Naruto and Hinata, Sasuke and Fem Haku, Kakashi and Anko (Eventually Itachi and Anko).

Nestled deep within the land of fire, hidden within the immense forest lay the village of konoha. This village was home to many of the strongest shinobi to ever live in the great nations.

Every so often, one of these ninja shows exceptional strength or ability. This person becomes hokage. The hokage is the master of all the shinobi in a village. He is disciplined and a strategic genius.

Every hokage has their likeness engraved upon the cliff above konoha. These faces represent the strength of the people, and the will of fire. These faces inspire the villagers to do their best at any challenge.

"Naruto!" came the cry of a severely pissed anbu.

Said blonde stopped in the middle of his… project. He was currently refreshing the previously non-existent paint on the hokage monument.

He gave his foxy grin and dropped the can of yellow paint. Luck would have it that the bucket flipped over and lodged itself on the head of yet another of the masked shinobi.

"Get him!" the first anbu ordered while trying to assist his more unfortunate comrade in his endeavors to remove the can. He failed, epically.

An entire platoon of the villages' elite ninja dropped onto the scaffolding, surrounding Naruto. He jumped over the side of the platform, executing several flips before landing and running as if the shiningami himself were after him. (Judges: 9.9 out of 10. *Kunai flies at judges* Judges: gulp 10 out of 10!)

Eventually angry cries and laughter could be heard throughout the entire village. Yes, this was a normal day in Konoha.

"Hokage-sama!" an anbu said to the elderly man in formal robes.

"What is it, Taka?" sarutobi Hiruzen, the third hokage of konoha, asked, referring to the man's mask.

"We caught him," said the masked man. His mask was designed as a hawk.

"Caught who?" asked the hokage, though he knew who the anbu was talking about. Nobody else would dare… decorate the hokage monument, especially in such a grand fashion.

"Naruto," Taka said. "He was vandalizing the monument. Again.

Sarutobi sighed. "Send him in."

The anbu nod and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. He walked in through the door seconds later with a still grinning Naruto.

"Hey Oji-san!" Naruto exclaimed.

The anbu raised his hand as if to smack the insolent child, but sarutobi intervened. "Leave us, Taka. I wish to speak with Naruto alone."

"Hai, hokage-sama," the anbu said before vanishing again.

Naruto looked at the hokage with a confused look on his face.

"Naruto, I see that you've been up to mischief again," sarutobi smiled.

"Well," Naruto said with one hand behind his head.

"Because of your behavior problem, I'm going to send you to live with the Uchiha clan."

"NANI?" the young boy exclaimed.

"It's for your own," the hokage said."I also realize that tomorrow you turn six."

Naruto looked a little glum. Every year on his birthday, villagers (and a few ninja) made a point of seeking him out and beating him half to death. Then when some kind soul finally took him to the hospital, he received the worst treatment possible. Once they even tried to poison him.

"So I've already taken care of the paperwork. Tomorrow, you begin your first day in the shinobi academy." Sarutobi said.

Naruto suddenly wrapped himself around the hokage, crying "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" for a full minute before the old man managed to peel him off. At about that time, Uchiha Fugaku, the head of the Uchiha clan, walked into the office.

"Sarutobi-sama, I've finished having his things moved to the uchiha compound. He will be rooming with my son, Sasuke." The man told the hokage.

"Thank you Fugaku. I know this is a lot to ask," the old man said.

"No problem. Naruto, come along." The younger man said. He led Naruto through the village to the part of the city that held the Uchiha clan.

Once they entered the main compound, the clan head turned to Naruto. "All your possessions are already here. From now on, you will behave yourself. Also starting tomorrow, you will start your training. Sasuke, Itachi!"

"Yes father," both boys said, stepping into the entry hall.

"Sasuke, Naruto is your new roommate. Show him around later, maybe in the morning as it is quite late," Fugaku said. Sasuke bowed, acknowledging his father's command. "Itachi, after his classes are over, I want you to train him."

"If I'm not busy on a mission," Itachi accepted.

"Naruto, welcome to your new home," the uchiha clan head said.


	2. the past revealed

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. Damn!

AN: So far the reviews for this story are good, so I'm going to keep typing, and I hate typing. My readers get me to want to do something I hate. But I love writing, and this is the only way to get the story up. Thanks for the reviews!

Over the next seven years, Naruto grew much closer to the uchiha clan. He and Sasuke grew were nearly inseparable and the two soaked up the ninja training that Itachi taught them.

At first it seemed as if Naruto were having trouble in his classes. When Fugaku confronted him about it, Naruto claimed that he had done the test correctly, but for some reason he had the wrong test when the teachers graded it.

Fugaku spent the next test hiding, and because of his sharing an able to see the illusion on the test, he was able to find out why Naruto did so poorly. He confronted the teachers after class. It turned out that many teachers were fired because of this, but Naruto started to get better scores. Almost as good as Sasuke.

One night the villagers decided to extract revenge for corrupting the head of one of konohas most prestigious clans as well as both of its heirs.

In the middle of the beating, a few shinobi (chuunin from the looks of their vests) appeared. "Demon," one of them said. "What you have done is unforgivable, and we must kill you to rectify the situation."

The ninja drew a kunai while the crowd cheered him on. As the ninja advanced, Naruto felt as fear began to grip his chest. The chuunin raised his kunai and brought it down swiftly.

Scared for his life, Naruto called on all the chakra he could must from every fiber of his being. He felt a strange rage and hatred for all things free. And happy and bubbly. As the feelings rushed over him he blacked out

"Naruto. Naruto! Wake up!" a familiar voice seemed to call from far away, but getting closer.

Slowly the boy opened his eyes. "W-what happened?"

Both Sarutobi's and Fugaku's faces came into view. Both men sighed with relief. "Naruto, there a few thing you need to know." The hokage said.

"Huh?" Naruto asked, starting to get up. "Like what?"

Fugaku placed a hand on his shoulder, keeping him seated. "You're not going to like this and the news might cause you to pass out again. Maybe you should stay seated." Naruto nodded.

"Do you remember the class lessons on the kyuubi no kitsune?" sarutobi asked at which Naruto nodded. "That tale is mostly true, but…"

"But what?" Naruto asked.

"The Kyuubi did not die that day. The yondaime hokage used a forbidden sealing jutsu, of his own creation, to seal the fox into a newborn baby. But he couldn't use just any baby, he had to use one of his own because he couldn't in good conscience, ask for some else to give up their child." Sarutobi told him.

"Me? I'm the container for the the kyuubi? The most powerful demon on earth?" Naruto asked both men nodded, waiting for the rest of their word to set in. "Wait! The Yondaime is my father? Why didn't you tell me?"

"We were going to wait until you older and could handle the information more calmly," Fugaku said.

"Oh. Okay" Naruto said calming down.

"You're not mad?" Sarutobi asked

"I am, a little. But I realize that you only did what you thought was necessary. Besides, if my father was hokage, then that means that It's in my blood to be hokage. And I'll be the greatest hokage ever!" Naruto explained

"I'm sure you will," sarutobi said as both men smiled at Naruto.

"Run on home. I need to talk with the hokage," Fugaku said, ruffling naruto's hair.

"Okay," Naruto said, bolting out the door.

When he was safely out of ear shot, Fugaku turned to sarutobi. "It will be safe to leave him alone?"

"The seal showed no signs of weakening," the hokage said, pulling out his pipe. "He should be fine."

"Thank you," Fugaku said. "But I have a feeling that things are about to change, and not for the better."

Hyuuga Hinata was out for a walk when she saw her crush jogging up the street. _'It's Naruto! What should I do? What should I do?'_ she wondered

"Hey Hinata, what's up?" Naruto asked as he reached the terminally shy girl.

"N-N-Naruto-kun. I-I-I w-was j-just –"she stammered

"Hey wanna come over and play sometime?" Naruto asked

"T-that w-w-would be w-w-wonderful," the Hyuuga girl said as she turned bright red.

"Well, I gotta go back home. See ya," Naruto said before running off.

_'I have a date with Naruto-kun! I have a date with Naruto!' _ Hinata realized. _'It's Wednesday now. Maybe I should go over on Saturday, since we don't have class on the weekends. Maybe…_

As her thought drifted into other …areas of the mind (the much more mature areas) she passed out with a smile on her face and a trickle of blood leaking out of her nose.

Naruto was sprinting the last stretch when he was caught mid step and dragged into an alley. He tried to fight back, but his opponent was far more skilled. He was held lightly against the wall.

"Shh, it's just me," a familiar voice whispered.

"Itachi-nii-san?" Naruto asked

Itachi nodded. "I have to leave konoha for a while. I don't know when I'm going to be back. Take care of Sasuke for me. And you didn't see me. Tell Anko I said bye."

"okay." Naruto said. "Come back safe so you can train me more."

"Deal," Itachi said, vanishing into a swirl of leaves.


	3. unexpected turn of events

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Enough said.

AN: I'm planning a Naru Kyuubi story but I need some help. The story would start with the nine tail fox bringing Naruto and jiraiya to tsunade in konoha, demanding her to heal them. Any ideas for after that?

The next day, Thursday, Naruto and Sasuke wereracing home, using the new chakra technique they learned in class. True to his word, Naruto didn't tell anyone about meeting with Itachi or the nin vanishing.

As they rounded the corner, the gory sight that awaited them smacked into them like a sakura fist from another dimension. (All across the multiverse all other sakuras sneezed. Then proceeded to pummel Naruto for no apparent reason.) All about the street lay the bodies of the clan. Men, women, even the children. Every last one lay dead with horrific injuries.

"Tou-san, Kaa-san," Sasukecried, bolting towards his house, Naruto right behind him.

Both boysrushed through the compound, noting briefly the relative untouched look of the place. They crashed into the door that lead into the clan heads chambers, the wooden door easily giving in to the chakra laden attack.

In the center of the room lay the corpses of fugaku and mikoto. It looked as though they had put up a fight, but it wasn't enough. The clan sword lay broken in three pieces, and blood was every where.

"What the –" Naruto said before feeling a sharp pain in his neck. The last thing he heard before passing out was Sasuke screaming bloody murder.

The next day, the shinobi academy

Hinata was staring intently at the door. There was someone she was waiting for, the class knew. They didn't know who, but she was waiting. Much the same way that sasukes fangirls were waiting for him to show.

_'Naruto-kun's never late' _hinata thought _'so why is he late now?' _

Just then, the classes current teacher walked in. he was, as all teachers were, a chuunin. He wore the standard blue outfit with the green vest. He had shoulder length silver hair and black eyes.

"settle down class," the teacher said. "yes, hinata?"

Hinata had raised her hand as soon as she had seen the teacher. "M-Mizuki-sensei, do y-you kn –kn-know where N-Naruto and Sasuke are? I h-haven't seen th-them at all t-today?"

"no hinata I haven't," mizuki said. _'the kyuubi-brat must be up to something.' _

"i-I'm going o-over th-there t-tomorrow," hinata said. "i-I can t-take them th-their work."

"thank you hinata," mizuki said handing the hyuuga heiress a stack of papers. "Now if you will all open your history books to page sixty-five…"

The next morning hinata stopped by her fathers study before heading off. "F-father, I'm g-going over t-to the u-uchiha's t-to p-play w-with N-Naruto and s-Sasuke." She bowed low.

"Fine," Hiashi said, "but be back at five."

"Y-yes father," hinata said as she left the compound. She ran as fast as she could to get to the uchiha rounded the corner and stopped dead in her tracks. There were numerous bodies strewn about the street.

'_I should go back and let somebody know,' _hinata thought, fighting back panic and bile. _'but I need to know that Naruto-kun is safe first.'_

She manueverd through the street, careful not to touch the bodies of the uchiha. She made her way to the largest house, as she was sure that Naruto lived with the clan head. Hinata checked all the rooms on the first floor, which included Naruto and Sasuke's room.

Finding nothing, she went upstairs. The large door at the end of the hall was cracked open slightly so she went to that one first. As she opend the door she gasped. In the center of the room were the bodies of Uchiha Fugaku and Mikoto. In one of the corners, looking as if he were in severe pain was Sasuke in an emo ball. But the thing that drew her eyes was a boy, covered in blood, crumpled on the floor.

Hinata went to step forward but tripped on the entryway. She crawled over to Naruto's body. She shook him gently but he didn't respond. She starrted to shake him vigorously, to the same response. Hinata let out a blood curdling shriek and fell over Naruto, passing out.

Drip. Drip.

The sound of falling water droplets woke opened his eyes to see a dimly lit, apparently manmade, tunnel. there were pipes coursing everywhere, but a pressure from a side passage drew his gaze. He went to stand but there was a weight on top of him. He looked to see the unconcious form of hinata laying on his chest.

"Hey, hinata. Wake up," he said, shaking her shoulder.

"N-Naruto-kun?" hinata asked groggily. "Naruto-kun! Y-you're alive!" she latched onto him, causing both of them to fall back to the ground.

"Huh? Why wouldn't I be?" Naruto asked

"I-I came o-over t-to play, l-like w-we pr-promised. B-but th-there w-were b-bodies everywhere," hinata said, starting to cry. "a-and th-then I found y-you c-curled up, all bl-bloody a-and I-I th-thought y-you w-were dead!"

Naruto hugged her. "Well I'm not. I'm right here. Where ever here is."

A deep menacing growl issued from the side tunnel where the massive pressure came from. Naruto stood up, hinata latching onto his arm. The pair went to investigate the sound.

They found a room with a massive, elegant cage built into the back of it. The dark ceiling was lost in the shadows, so they had no idea how big the room really was. They approached the gate cautiosly. A massive claw raked against the cage, slahsing down.

The two fell backwards with a startled shout. Naruto shook his head and went to push himself up. However, it was not the solid ground that his hand found. He heard hinata gasp as his hand accidentally squeezed what felt like a soft mound covered in three to six layers of cloth.

The jinchuuriki looked down to seen hinata's face turning bight red. His gaze traveled lower see his hand squishing hinata's breast.

"Whaaah! I'm sorry Hinata," the boy cried out, falling back again.

"I-it's o-okay if i-it's y-you, N-Naruto-kun," the young girl said shyly.

The sound of deep, gravelly laughter from the other side of the cage broke the two out of their awkwardly intimate moment. A pair of glowing red eyes peered at the young teens with amusment. The eyes moved closer as their owner stepped forward, revealing a giant fox, nine tails flowing from behind him.

"Kyuubi," Naruto said.


	4. Intermission

**Intermission!**

"Hey, Hinata," Sakura greets walking up to the other girl. "Wow. It's pretty hot today. You must be suffering in that jacket. Why don't you take it off?"

"Okay," Hinata says. She peeks around; making sure no one is looking. She unzips her jacket and lets it fall to the ground, revealing Hinata in yet another jacket.

Sakura glares at the girl then starts removing more jackets from hinata's body. "Hinata, how many jackets are you wearing?" she asks as she removes the eight one.

Hinata looks lost in thought for a moment. "At the very least, I think thirty-two."

"Drop them. All of them." Sakura says

Hinata shrugs and starts removing layers. As she gets closer to the last one, the jackets become more and more tightly form fitting. Sakura's eyes bulge out. Hinata removes the last jacket to reveal a tight purple shirt with the Hyuuga symbol on the back.

Sakura passes out with blood rocket from her nose.

'_That's why I where the jackets in the first place,' _Hinata thought. _'I'm just too damn sexy.'_


	5. Intermission 2

Intermission 2

Hinata's confession

"lets get some things straight," Naruto said to the rookie nine and team guy. "Sasuke, youre gay. Plain and simple." The raven haired boy looked stunned. How had Naruto found out his secre- nevermind. "Sakura, youre an abusive lying bitch with a banshee voice." The pink haired girl burst a vein. "Ino, youre shallow." The blonde girl started to tear up. "Kiba, you stink. As in you need a shower, your dog smells better than you." The boy growled at Naruto. "Shino… youre just plain weird." The shade wearing boy shrugged. "Chouji, youre fat. Get over it." The akimichi started fuming. "Shikamaru, youre too damn lazy. And youre hair looks like a damn pineapple." The nara shrugged as well. "Neji, you have a stick so far up your ass its touching your brain. I can have baa-chan remove it for you." The hyuuga prodigy activated his byakugan. "Tenten, all those weapons tell me that youre compensating for something. Maybe you feel inferior because o f youre small breast size." The girl turned beet red. "Lee, youre not human. You are scary and youre eyebrows look like giant catepillars." Lee's jaw dropped. "and Hinata. I like you, but youre a fucking stalker. It's scarier than lee. Just tell whoever it is that you have a crush on, and get it over with." The girl blushed.

Naruto turned to face his comrades. All but one of them looked extremely pissed off. "what? What did I do? I was just pointing out your flaws so you would know what to work on." The ten peopl advanced on Naruto. He was about to turn tail and run, but shikamaru caught him in kagemane. He tried to gather chakra, but he was covered in shino's chakra eating bugs. Everyone else proceeded to beat the ever loving crap out of him. When they were finished, the stalked off, muttering about stupid blondes.

Hinata approached the beaten boy. "N-Naruto-kun, y-you w-were right. I-I do n-need t-t-to t-tell. I-I love y-you," she said. She didn't look at him as he stood up.

"maybe we should go out on a date?" Naruto asked. He gave Hinata a hug then pinched her butt. She spun around and slapped him down to the ground then beat him mercilessly.

"Of course we're going on a date. Pick me up at seven, at my place," she said cheerfully, with no stutter. As she skipped away Naruto was wondering why all his friends, and his now girlfriend, were all violent bloodthirsty fiends. The kyuubi only laughed at his predicament.


	6. meeting the fuzzball

Disclaimer:I. don't. own. Naruto.

AN: I'm sure a few things seem cloudy right now, such as how Hinata ended up in Naruto's mindscape, why the uchiha clan massacre went unnoticed for two days, why mizuki is still a sensei, and how Sasuke ended up in an emo ball despite the pain.

The answers, that order, are I will explain later, while the uchiha clan was the police force they were a secretive clan and you needed an invitation to enter unless it was an emergency (Hinata's scream definitely counts as an emergency to people.), mizuki hid his hatred for Naruto well, and the emo ball is actually the most comfortable position for pain. I know as I have don this myself, but I'm not a damn emo.

Thank all my readers and reviewers. If you find any inconsistancies or grammar problems feel free to point them out. Criticsm is welcomed, whether constructive or destructive.

Previously:

The sound of deep, gravelly laughter from the other side of the cage broke the two out of their awkwardly intimate moment. A pair of glowing red eyes peered at the young teens with amusment. The eyes moved closer as their owner stepped forward, revealing a giant fox, nine tails flowing from behind him.

"Kyuubi," Naruto said

Now:

"**Oh you're the sharp one, aren't you**," the fox said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"B-but I th-though th-that k-kyuubi was k-killed,"Hinata said.

"**Oh I'm very much alive, miss upity sunshine and rainbows**," Kyuubi said.

"My father defeated kyuubi, but couldn't kill him. So he sealed him inside me." Naruto explained

"**Yeah, yeah**," the fox said. "and if you die I die, so I guess you have just got to live. Maybe after you leave I can get back to my nap."

"B-but N-Naruto-k-kun w-won't die," Hinata said.

"He will die. All I have to do is research and find a way to survive his death. Or I could find a way to break free, though doing so shall surely kill him," Kyuubi siad offhandly.

Hinata stepped in front of Naruto, arms held out wide. "I won't let you hurt a hair on his head!"

"Hinata, you just-" Naruto said

"**She just talked without stuttering**," the fox shook his head in surprise.

"Nobody touches my Naruto-kun," the normally shy girl glared at the demonic entity.

"**No one has ever talked to my like that before and lived,**" the fox said.

"You won't touch her," Naruto said deadly calm. "No one hurts my friends."

"**Haha. You amuse me children. I never said I would hurt her, I was merely remarking that no one has ever talked to me like that,**" the fox said "**In fact I have a gift you both. You should be honored, as no one before has everf signed the fox summoning scroll. You just need to sign it, with your blood, and place a blood hand print at the bottom.**"

The fox tossed out a scroll at the young teens. It stopped just feet away. Naruto immediately unrolled it. "I'll do it."

"W-what i-if i-it's a-a t-trick?" Hinata asked.

"I'll be fine. There's no way I'm gonna be outsmarted by some baka fox," Naruto said.

Unbeknownst of the two, the foxes eye twitched at the idea of some idiot human calling him stupid.

Naruto signed the contract and passed it to Hinata who only hesitated for a moment before quickly signing it herself. The two rolled up the scroll and kyuubis tail snaked out and grabbed it. Kyuubi gave them a quick walkthrough on the hand signs required for summoning before stalking off to go to sleep. "**Everything here did happen, you're just in your mindscape. But now it's time for you to wake up.**"


	7. the funeral

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did I would be rich and have minions to do the typing for me.

AN: This chapter I acually came up with just now. I decided to expand upon the one paragraph and include a few new scenes. The AU kicks in with the jiinchuuriki, though it won't be for another couple of chapters. I would give you a list, but I don't want to ruin the surprise. And for those of you wondering, no, sakura is not going to play a major part in this story.

Naruto opened his eyes and immediately shut them again against the bright light. After several attempts he managed to see without the blindness of brightness. He sat up and took in his surroundings. He was in his least favorite place in all of konoha. The hospital.

In the bed on the other side of the room lay Hinata. She had a slight smile her face. Between the two, in a chair, sat Sasuke. He had the look of an emo. He seemed to be asleep.

Naruto got out of his bed quietly and made his way to the bathroom. After he was fiinished relieving himself he went back to the bed only to trip over the little bump that all doors seem to have. He landed with a spectacular "Oof!"

Hinata stirred but remained asleep. Sasuke, however, actually jumped at the sound, he had a light slumber.

"hey. How you holdin up?" Sasuke asked

"I'm fine. You?" Naruto responded.

"You know who it was right?" Sasuke asked. "Who killed them all."

"No. I was out practically before I hit the floor." Naruto told him.

"it was itachi. It was our brother." Sasuke said.

The children were released the next day. They decided to stick together, to help each other. At first Sasuke was a little standoffish with Hinata, her being hyuuga and all, but eventually he found out that she was different from the rest of them. He was still wary of her.

They were informed that the funeral would be held in one week. The hokage was taking over the arrangments as both the boys were still too young to handle that responsibility. While Sasuke and Naruto were disappointed, they were extremely grateful. The week passed quickly as the boys, usually with Hinata, constantly trained to exhaustion.

There was a light drizzle as the funeral started. Only the clan heads and their immediate families were invited, though many people would have gladly shown up to mourn the loss of konoha's police force. Many of the uchihas were friends with a good deal of the villagers.

Naruto and Sasuke stood together, putting up a strong front in front of the other clans. This was as much a test of the new head of the uchiha as much a funeral. So Naruto was supporting Sasuke in his determination not to show the pain of losing so many dear to him.

The priest's eulogy carried on and on. '_he doesn't know anything about them really_.' The boys thought. '_he's practically reading a list of their accomplishments._'

It took all of Sasuke's willpower not to yell at the priest. It took all of Naruto's willpower not to punch the offending man square in the face.

After the priest was done and the 'mourners' had left, Sasuke sank to his knees and let the tears fall. "dammmit!" he shouted. "If only we were stronger. Faster. If only we were better, we could have been there to stop him!"

"Or you could have perished with the rest of them," the sandaime said. "Itachi was stronger than every last one of them. He would have finished you off as well. I am surprised he spared you. But then both of you had your place in his heart."

"It's all my fault," Naruto said quietly. "itachi told me to keep quiet that he left, and when he came back he killed them all. I… I -"

Sasuke hit Naruto in the jaw. "Stop blaming yourself. Itachi did have you keep him leaving a secret, but did he tell you he was going to kill everyone?" Naruto shook his head. "Then it wasn't your fault. Now pull it together. We have some training to do."


	8. Genin exams

Disclaimer: If Naruto was mine he'd wear red. And generally be dripping in the blood of his unfortunate enemies.

AN: Nothing new to add at this time. *knock, knock* yes? (It's the police. Open up.) I swear by the shinigami that I didn't take the last cookie. It was my brother I swear! *Bang! Thud!* (Come on. You're surrounded. Give up.) You won't take me alive. Besides I know your weakness. (Oh? And what pray tell might that be?) There's an all you can eat sale going on at the nearest donut shop. (Forget this guy! I'm getting me some donuts!) Whew! On with the story!

Four years later finds Naruto at the placement exams at the shinobi academy. He was one of three ninja vying for the position of rookie of the year.

"The first test is the kunai throwing test," Iruka, the latest teacher said. "The first tester will be Uchiha Sasuke." The raven haired boy approached the line with the three issued combat knives. With practiced movements, Sasuke flung the knives at the target, hitting three different vital areas. The Jugular, the femoral artery, and the left eye.

"Perfect," Mizuki called out. "Go to the next area and wait for everyone else."

"Hyuuga Hinata," Iruka called out.

The girl walked to the line and calmly tossed her three kunai. The first hit the stomach, the second hit just below the heart and the third above the heart.

"Well done," Mizuki said. "This way you can get information from someone before finishing them off."

"Uzumaki Naruto," Iruka called out the next name.

'_I have to find a way to stop this brat,' _mizuki thought. '_Nobody should suspect a wind-'_

Just as he reached that thought Naruto threw his kunai. The first one landed between the eyes. The second impacted the heart. The third one caused every male to instinctively cover their more precious lower parts. Naruto then took off in the direction of his friends, not giving Mizuki a chance to speak.

"The second part of the test is taijutsu," Iruka said. "You will be going one on one against Mizuki."

'_Finally. Now I know for sure that I can get Naruto out of the exams.'_ Mizuki thought.

"However," Iruka said. "As there is a three-way tie for rookie of the year, those three will start off with a free for all match against each other."

Mizuki, inwardly pissed off, agreed to the match.

Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke all walked into the ring, wishing the other two luck. The fight was a bizarre mix of an elegant dance and an all out brawl. It ended up with Sasuke holding a kunai to Naruto's chest and one to Hinata's head. Hinata held a kunai at Sasuke's neck and Naruto's stomach.

Naruto had the strange position. His kunai were in Hinata's shirt collar and Sasuke's eye, while his foot was at Sasuke's crotch.

Hinata looked down to see the kunai in her shirt. "Naruto-kun!" she exclaimed. Four years as friends with her crush had gotten her over her stuttering problem.

"Sorry Hinata," Naruto said. "It just happened."

"Naruto! How dare you even think of doing that to Sasuke-Kun!" sakura yelled from the crowd.

"Let's go to the next room," Sasuke said to the other two. "I sense fan girls."

Naruto and Hinata shuddered in fear and disgust.

"The final part of the test is your jutsu," Iruka said. "We need you to perform a henge, a kawarimi, and a bunshin. You need three clones to pass."

Sasuke, following the order, went first. He turned into an exact copy of Mizuki. He replaced himself with a log, and made five clones.

"Well done Sasuke!" Mizuki cheered. Go back to the classroom and wait for the others."

Hinata went next. She turned into the hokage, replaced herself with another log, and made four clones.

"Good job Hinata," Mizuki smiled. "Go join Sasuke."

Naruto approached. He took a deep breath. "Iruka-sensei, do the jutsu have to be done in that order?" the brown haired chuunin nodded his head, to Naruto's disappointment. "And since I have such a large chakra capacity, I can't do a regular bunshin. Is it alright if I do an advanced version?"

"That's fine," Iruka said as Mizuki nodded.

"Yes that's- what?" Mizuki asked.

"The test rules only say that three bunshin are required. They don't mention anything about what kind," Iruka said.

Naruto turned into an exact copy of Iruka. He then made the hand sign for kawarimi, but nothing happened.

"I'm sorry Naruto," Mizuki said. "It looks like you fail."

"Really?" the Iruka behind the desk said with Naruto's voice. "I thought I did rather well."

"Well. Now you need your bunshin." The real Iruka said.

Naruto dropped the henge and formed a seal where his index fingers were perpendicular to each other. "Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" suddenly there were a hundred Naruto's in the room. "Well? Do I pass?" all the Naruto's asked.

After everyone was finished and ready to go home for the day, Mizuki approached Naruto. "Naruto, I have a favor to ask of you. This can only be done by someone with your particular talents…"


	9. The forbidden scroll

Disclaimer: "Hey this guy doesn't own me," Naruto says.

AN: I would have updated earlier but I had a pt test and a barracks inspection today. Failed the pt test, but past the barracks inspection. And the upcoming name Youkou means sunshine.

Naruto sat on the ground outside a log cabin somewhere in the forest outside of konoha. Next to him lay a giant scroll. It looked unopened so far. Naruto was thinking about the mission Mizuki gave him.

FLASHBACk

"Naruto, I have a favor to ask of you. This can only be done by some one with your particular talents," Mizuki said. "There is a special scroll in the hokage tower. It should be hidden around the desk, probably in an unassuming looking box or case."

"Why do you need the scroll?" Naruto asked.

"There is a hidden rule that if a genin fresh out of the academy can obtain the scroll, then they can choose their team," Mizuki said. "and the teacher who receives the scroll from the genin and returns it to the hokage gets a pay raise." 'Is this kid really that stupid?' Naruto looked a little iffy. "And the villagers will like you a lot more."

"I'll do it!" Naruto said loudly. 

"Shh! You can't let anyone know about this. Period. Got it?" Mizuki asked.

"Got it," Naruto whispers. He ran off to prepare, leaving Mizuki to shake his head.

FLASHBACK END

'of course Mizuki-sensei is up to something,' Naruto thought. 'it's a good thing I asked oji-san for some help. Hehehe.'

FLASHBACK

"Hey, oji-san!" Naruto exclaimed popping into the window.

"what do you need Naruto?" Sarutobi asked.

"Well, Mizuki-sensei told me something, but it sounded really suspicious to me," Naruto admitted. "he said that there's this scroll here in the office and he wants me to bring it to him. He said I'll be able to pick my team and that he would get a pay raise. He also said the villagers would like me more. Is that true?"

"No Naruto. It's not. However, I believe you may be able to help me with something. It would seem that Mizuki is a traitor. I want you to do this…"

FLASHBACK END

'Almost time,' Naruto thought. Just as he completed the thought the bushes shook, and Iruka jumped out.

"Naruto! What do you think you're doing!" Iruka demanded.

"Mizuki sensei said that I could pick my team and that the villagers would like me more if I got the scroll for him," Naruto said, keeping with the story as he and the hokage agreed.

"And you believed me!" Mizuki exclaimed as he dropped onto the nearest tree limb. He had an evil yet triumphant smile on his face. "Tell me Naruto do you know why the villagers all hate you?"

"No Mizuki! It's forbidden!" Iruka cried out.

"you, Uzumaki Naruto, are the nine tailed fox demon that attacked konoha almost eighteen years ago," the traitorous teacher said.

"Namikaze." Naruto said.

"What," Mizuki asked.

"My name is Namikaze Naruto, son on Namikaze Minato, the yondaime hokage," Naruto said before biting his thumb. He slowly went through a few handsigns.

Mizuki's eye twitched. "Whatever. You are still the –"

"Kuchiyose No Justsu!" Naruto called out, slamming his hand to the ground. There was a poof of smoke, which cleared to reveal a pale yellow fox with three tails. Both teachers' jaws dropped.

"Hey Naruto!" the fox said. "What's up?"

"Hey Youkou. Could you check the seal?" Naruto asked. "I just need verification that the kyuubi hasn't taken over."

"The seal is working fine," the Youkou said. "Do you need me for any thing else? I was in the middle of a bath." Naruto shook his head. "Later." There was a poof of smoke as the fox disappeared.

"naaruto," Iruka asked. "Did you just-"

"summon a fox? Yes." Naruto answered.

"Even if he did, I'm still going to kill him!" Mizuki said. "And take the Scroll."

"Here," Naruto said tossing the scroll to him. "you can have it." Mizuki opened it eagerly.

"Naruto, what are you-" Iruka started to ask.

"What the hell is this?" Mizuki asked, showing the scroll to Iruka and Naruto. The scroll was many childrens' drawings, depicting family and friends and pets.

"That is the scroll that I got from the hokage. He said it would you more good than the forbidden scroll," Naruto said. "But now you are under arrest by konoha law."

"by you and what army," Mizuki sneered.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Naruto called out. Hundreds, if not thousands of Naruto's popped into existence as shadows dropped down. Each revealed itself to be a shinobi wearing white body armor with a painted animal mask. Anbu.

` "How's about this one?" a violet haired woman in a tan trench coat and a mini skirt asked.

"Anko-nee-chan!" Naruto said happily.

"Hey gaki, what's up?" Anko said.

"Nee…chan?" Mizuki asked. "What kind of monsters are you?" He charged at the real Naruto.

He was stopped by numerous kunai and snake bites. He fell to the ground, quite dead.

"no one insults my precious people," Naruto said as his clones vanished into smoke.

"No one hurts my otouto," Anko said, stowing her kunai.

"Anko-san? Naruto?" Iruka asked.

"you didn't see anything. got it scar-face?" anko said jumping away, the anbu following. "Hokage's orders!"

"I got to return this to the hokage now," Naruto said picking up the scroll. "See ya!" He sprinted off in the direction of the village.

Hidden from view in a tree, Sasuke's eyes narrowed.


	10. Meeting sensei

Disclaimer: I in no way, shape, or form own Naruto.

AN: This chapter introduces the teams and the jounin sensei. *Thunder Clap* *Evil laughter in the back ground* OOOOOOOOkay, anyways I want to sa- *Evil laughter in background* on moment. (Author gets out of seat and goes to back ground) *Evil laughter in background* *Boom! Boom! Boom* (shotgun blasts) (author arrives) Now, where was I? Argh! Damn my short term memory loss! Oh well, let's carry on.

On the way to the academy the next morning, Sasuke confronted Naruto about the event the previous night.

"You performed a summoning last night," he stated. "How?" there were no summoning scrolls in the uchiha compound.

"How do you know I did that?" Naruto asked.

"I followed you to that clearing last night," the raven haired boy said.

"Oh. Well you know that I'm the kyuubi vessel, right?" Naruto asked as Sasuke nodded. "Well, he gave me the fox summoning scroll." He pulled the scroll out of his pocket. It was smaller than other summoning scrolls, only allowing for three or four, maybe five, names. "Want to sign in it?"

"I don't any pens," Sasuke said.

"You don't sign it in ink," Naruto told him."You sign it in your own blood."

Sasuke looked at him in disbelief. "With blood? Are you crazy?"

"Yes I am," Naruto said with a grin. "And I'm not the only one. Look."

The uchiha looked at read the names on the scroll, and looked at the second (last) one with disbelief. Hyuuga Hinata. "When did she sign it?"

"_**That **_night," the blonde jiinchuuriki said. Both boys' faces darkened at the thought of the night the clan was slaughtered. For a moment, anyway. "So you gonna sign or not?"

"Kami-sama itself couldn't stop me," Sasuke said. He cut his thumb on a kunai then signed the scroll the same way Naruto and Hinata did.

And speaking of Hinata, she came walking up just as the uchiha finished signing the scroll. "Why aren't you two in class already?"

"Sasuke wanted to sign," Naruto paused and looked around then dropped his voice to a whisper, "THE PAPER."

"Oh," Hinata said. "did he show you the hand seals?"

"What seals?" Sasuke asked.

Hinata sighed and went over the seals. They all froze as a bell rang.

"One…Two…Three…Stop." Naruto said as the bell rang then stopped. He nodded. "I thought so."

"What is it, Naruto-kun," Hinata asked.

"That was," Naruto said, "the tardy bell."

Both Hinata and Sasuke cried "NANI?"

The darker haired teens grabbed Naruto's arms and sped down the street with a speed that would make a jounin proud.

The trio opened the door to the classroom, the two darker haired genin panting heavily. Iruka looked at them with a smile. "Well, the other times were just decided, so I guess you three are on a team together." The trio gave each other high fives. "You're on team 7. Your jounin instructor is Hatake Kakashi."

"Nani!" Naruto cried out.

"What's the problem," Hinata asked him.

"Kakashi is one of the two worst jounin in konoha," Naruto said. "Don't get me wrong he's really good, but his behavior…"

"That bad?" Sasuke asked.

"He's three hours late to everything, probably even his own funeral too. He has the lamest excuses, doesn't pay much attention to anything, and, worst of all, he's a pervert."

Sasuke scoffed. "you're over exaggerating."

"He can't be that bad," Hinata said agreeing with Sasuke.

"Everyone, be back here at eleven," Iruka said.

Eleven ten

The only team left in the classroom was team 7. As soon as the last team left the room, Naruto began setting up a prank/trap.

"Naruto, he's a jounin, he won't fall for that," Sasuke said.

"I think Sasuke is right, Naruto-kun," Hinata said.

Naruto turned around to face his friends, making a funny face that caused them to crack up. Then he turned back to his work. He was done about five minutes later.

He walked to Iruka's desk and lay down.

"What are you doing?" Hinata asked.

"Taking a nap," Naruto replied.

"Why?" Sasuke asked.

"He won't be here until two," Naruto said with a yawn. He promptly passed out.

The other two shrugged and sat down to wait. It turned out to be a LONG wait.

One fifty-eight

Naruto's alarm went off. He stood up, yawned, and walked to stand beside the door. He began to count down.

Just as he reached zero, the door opened and a silver haired jounin walked in saying, "sorry I'm late. I got lost on the road of life," causing Hinata and Sasuke to sweat drop.

A snare grabbed the jounin's leg as Naruto grabbed the book the jounin held. Kakashi was parted from his book as he zipped around the room, the snare pulling him through various obstacles. When he was finished he was covered in pink tar and blue chicken feathers. He was also equipped with a green beak, a neon yellow tutu and held a pink and purple wand.

Hinata and Sasuke blinked. When the image didn't go away, they blinked again. This time they pulled out cameras and started taking pictures. Finally Kakashi started to remove the new accessories, and tar/feathers.

"My first impression of you all is I –" Kakashi started.

"See Hinata," Naruto said, showing her one of the few pages in the orange book that actually had a picture in it. A very sexually oriented picture.

"My…sensei is a-a-a a pervert…" Hinata said in disbelief. "AAAGHHH!"

She grabbed the jounin by his hair and started rapidly pounding his face with her other hand, screaming hysterically. She paused for a moment to look at him. "It's not that I don't like perverts," she said. "After all, I am one. Sort of. I just don't want some lecherous old man touching me inappropriately." She started pounding the jounin's face. Again.

"Hmm," Naruto said opening the book to the first page. He started reading, then he was reading it intently.

Kakashi finally replaced himself with a log. "My first impression of you all is that you might be interesting." He looked at Naruto as he said this. "Meet me on the roof in ten minutes."

On the roof Kakashi gestured for everyone to sit down. "Before we can work as a team we need to know a little bit about each other. You know, your likes dislikes, and hobbies."

"Why don't you go first sensei," Hinata asked.

"Alright. My name is Kakashi. I like things, I dislike other things. My hobby is none of your business." The silver haired jounin said.

"IE, I like porn, dislike anti-pornists, and his hobby is reading porn," Naruto translated, still enthralled by the book.

"Naruto-kun! You're not really reading that are you?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah, I am," the blonde responded.

_'I think I may get along with this team very well,'_ Kakashi thought. "Alright emo, you first."

"My name is Sasuke. My likes are my friends and training. My dislikes are many. My dream, no… my ambition is to kill a certain man and rebuild my clan."

"OOOkay," Kakashi said. "Other emo."

"I'm not an emo," Hinata protested.

"That," Kakashi said, "is up for debate. Now go."

"Fine. I'm Hinata. I like my friends, Naruto-kun, and training. I don't like anyone that hurts, threatens, or insults Naruto-kun. My dream is to…. Marry Naruto-kun. And to get stronger.

"Blondie, you're next," Kakashi said. "Blondie?"

"One moment," Naruto said. "It's just getting to a good part."

"Now Naruto," Kakashi said dangerously.

Naruto sighed. "I'm Naruto. I like my precious people, ramen, and this book. I dislike anything that tries to hurt or take away one of my likes. Dream is to be hokage."

_'So I have an avenger, an obsessed emo princess, and an idiot. I may just like this team.'_ Kakashi thought. "Okay that's all for today. Meet me at training ground six at eight. Oh and don't eat breakfast or you'll throw up. Naruto, _**I'll be taking my book back now**_." He held out his hand.

"Yea-no," Naruto said. "You can just buy another one. I'm not able to buy one for at least another year."

"Your eighteenth birthday is in four days," Sasuke said.

"Shut up, I'm trying to get a free book here," Naruto said.

Kakashi smiled. "That's alright. Keep it. I have two more copies."

"Sensei!" Hinata protested.

"I'm really just too lazy to do anything," Kakashi said.

"Fine, I will," the Hyuuga heiress said, batting the book out of Naruto's face.

"Whoa! Hinata wha-" Naruto's sentence was interrupted as Hinata placed a full blown kiss on his mouth.

Kakashi stared with his one showing eye. He raised one hand to close Sasuke's jaw and cover his eyes.

When she was done the Hyuuga heiress plucked the book from the blonde's hands. As she was about to toss it, her eyes caught a line. She brought the book to her face and read the sentence before flipping to the first page and reading intently.

_'Yes'_ Kakashi thought _I'm going to like this team.'_ He poofed away.

"Did that just happen," Naruto asked Sasuke, who nodded dumbly. The blonde fell over unconscious, a smile on his face.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled when she looked up after hearing something thud to the ground. As she dashed over to the blonde, the book flew up and landed on Sasuke's lap. The raven haired boy curiously opened the object that enthralled his friends. Soon he was reading like there was no tomorrow.


	11. the true test and a surprise

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.  
AN: As a favor, and a way of apologizing until I can actually update with new chapters, I'm making this chapter readable.

The next morning found Naruto and Sasuke reading the perverted orange book over a breakfast. The book had completely distracted the genin from their sensei's words. Fortunately, or unfortunately as the genin saw it, they were on the last page.

"Wow," Naruto said. "I can't wait to read the next one." "Maybe Kakashi-sensei has the next one," Sasuke ventured. "Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto pondered as his eyes drifted over to the clock on the wall. "OH NO!" "What's wrong," the raven haired boy asked. "It's eleven fifteen!" the blonde yelled, starting to panic. Sasuke pondered for a moment as Naruto jumped around in a frenzy. "Didn't you say that sensei was three hours late to everything?" Naruto nodded. "How's about we take a nice leisurely stroll?" Sasuke had on an evil grin, which soon found it's way to Naruto's face as well.

Almost two hours later Hinata and Kakashi were in the middle of a staring contest. It was the eighth one. So far, the jonin had one every last one of them. But he blinked when Hinata cried out, seeing her teammates. The one eyed jonin spun around to see the two boys walking at a slow pace. A very SLOW pace. "Sorry we're late," Sasuke said. "We got lost on the road of life," Naruto finished. "Do I really sound that lame?" Kakashi asked. He sweat dropped when all three genin nodded. "For being honest, no matter how brutally it was, I can't count it against you. Now, we were supposed to do this test before noon, but seeing as how it's too late for that, you have until five." "Wait, what do you mean test," Naruto asked. "A test to see if you're fit to become genin," Kakashi said. "But we already passed that test," Hinata said. "The test at the academy was only to see if you had the potential to become genin. This test will see if you have the attributes to be true ninja," Kakashi explained. "I'm not going to lie, this test is much harder than the other one. It has a sixty-six percent failure rating." "Alright then," Naruto said. "Let's get this over with." The other two agreed completely. The silver haired shinobi pulled out two bells. "As you can see there are two bells. You have to work together to get them, but only two of you will pass." The genin stiffened. "The third will go back to the academy for another year of training." 'That's,' Hinata thought, 'not fair.' 'No way,' Naruto thought. 'There must be something else to this,' Sasuke thought. "If you really want the bells, you must come at me with the intent to kill. alright, begin," their sensei said.

The three genin took off, to regroup in a small clearing not too far from the main one. Kakashi pulled out a familiar orange book and began reading. "Alright, I have a plan that I think will work," the blonde said. "what is it?" the hyuuga asked. "I have this one jutsu, Orioke no Jutsu," Naruto explained. "It will distract Kakashi sensei. Then Hinata will run in and close his tenketsu with her jyuuken. Sasuke will then approach and grab the bells." Sasuke nodded, but Hinata had a question. "How exactly will this jutsu of yours distract a jonin?" Naruto mumbled something that was too quiet for the heiress to hear, but not too low for his other teammate. The Uchiha turned bright red at the thought of this jutsu, and its' uses on people like Kakashi. "What?" Hinata asked. "You don't want to know," Sasuke said. "Alright, let's move," the jinchuuriki said.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said said striding into the clearing. "What is it Naruto?" the one eyed jonin asked "I'm going to take you down," the blonde said. After some hand seals he called out "Orioke no Jutsu!" The was a large puff of smoke. As the smoke cleared, it disappeared to reveal a gorgeous looking girl with ample... ahem, assets. She was standing in a very provocative pose. Kakashi, being a pervert, was leaning forward with a very wide eye. As such, he didn't notice Hinata darting forward. She landed crippling blows all over her sensei, who was only just realizing she was there. The Uchiha sauntered forwar, hands in his pockets. When he reached Kakashi, he reached out and grabbed the bells. He walke over to Naruto and gave him one of the little silver balls. "Very good," Kakashi said. "Now who is going back to the academy?" he would have moved, but he was quite paralyzed. Naruto handed Hinata the bell he held. "If my teammates don't make it, then I don't see why I should. I'll go back." he sat down and crossed his arms and legs. The lavender haired girl gave her bell to Sasuke. "I won't let anyone be held back because of me. I'll go back." Sasuke looked at his sensei and smirked. He tossed the bell to Kakashi's feet and shook his head. "Very well," Kakashi said darkly. "Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." He looked into each of the genin's eyes, finding only determination. "You all," he said with a smile as the background returned to normal, "pass." "NANI?" the genin cried in confusion. "The true goal of this test was to determine if you were capable of working as a team, despite being faced with difficult choice, such as choosing one of your teammates to go back to the academy," Kakashi explained. "you all passed with flying colors. You have the rest of the day off." the genin pssed around high fives and started wlkeing off. "Oh Naruto." the blonde turned to face his sensei. "I'm going to want to learn that technique." "You got it sensei," Naruto said before running to catch up with his team mates. "Hey let's go get some ramen." Kakashi nodded, or tried to. He realized his tenketsu were still sealed up. He sighed and went to read his book. But it wasn't in his hand. It was closed, laying on the ground three feet away. He sighed again and opted to wait. Besides, what could he do?

Hinata stopped suddenly, her head snapping up, causing the other two to stop as well. "Uh oh." "What's wrong," Naruto asked. "I forgot to do something," the lavender haired girl said. "Forgot what," the uchiha asked. "I forgot to," the girl said. "unseal kakashi-sensei's tenketsu." "Oh," the boys said before laughing. "Why are you laughing," Hinata asked, slightly ashamed, and more than a little upset. "Now Kakashi-sensei has a valid excuse for being late to something," Naruto said, before laughing again. "Oh," Hinata said.

As if to prove him right, Kakashi appeared in the hokages office three hours later than usual. Around the room were the jonin of the other teams. They were all waiting on Kakashi before they could go home. "What kept you this time, kakashi-sempai?" asked Kurenai, the red eyed jonin of team eight. "The hyuuga heiress sealed my tenketsu and left me at the training ground," Kakashi said glumly. "I know the girl is fast," Sarutobi Asuma, the hokage's son said, " but to be able to hit you?" "I was distracted," Kakashi said. "And what could prove to be able to distract the Hatake Kakashi, konoha's best tracker?" kurenai asked. "It was a technique of Naruto's," Kakashi said. "Orioke no Jutsu?" the hokage asked pulling out his pipe. Kakashi simply nodded. "I thought so." "What type of technique is it," kurenai asked. "I believe it's the 'Sexy Jutsu,'" Sarutobi said with a smile, taking a puff off of his pipe, to which all the jonin except for Kakashi face faulted.

At Ichiraku's ramen stand, Hinata sneezed. When Naruto looked over, opening his mouth to say something, he sneezed as well. Sasuke looked at both of them but kept eating. After they were done, the boys were walking the heiress home when Naruto asked, "Hinata-chan, are we going out?" Hinata turned red and did something she hadn't done in years. She fainted, and if one were to look close, there was a small trail of blood leaking out of one nostril. "What should we do, what should we do," Naruto asked, freaking out. "You are going to carry here home," Sasuke said. "After all, you're the one that asked her the question that caused her to faint." he turned to his friend. "I'll see you at the compound." he leapt off, leaving Naruto with an unconcious Hinata. With a sigh, he lifted her up and slung her over his shoulder and took off toward her home.

When he arrived a large crowd of hyuuga were waiting outside the gate of their compound. "Hinata-sama!" One cried, running over to Naruto, drawing all the attention to him. "Is she alright?" the woman took Hinata from Naruto carefully. "I think so," Naruto said. "We were talking and she fainted." "Is that all you were doing," a cold voice asked. Naruto looked up to see the form of Hiashi, hinata's father, walking towards him. Naruto nodded. "we were about to send out a search party to look for her. She is usually home by three, and it is well past eight." "That's our fault," Naruto said, one hand behind his head. "we were celebrating passing both genin exams and lost track of time." Hiashi looked as if he were appraising the boy. "Naruto-san, can I get you to follow me to my office. There is a matter I wish to discuss with you in private." he was already walking away before Naruto could answer, forcing the boy to follow him anyway.

When they arrived, hiahsi turned to Naruto. "Sit."  
Though it seemed like a suggestion, naruto know with a certainty that it was an order. So he did as he was told. Hiashi flew through a few hand signs. "Naisho no Jutsu!" he looked at Naruto. "Now we can talk without fear. That was a jutsu that makes the room sound proof and able to avoid even the byakugan." "what is it that you want from me, Hiashi-sama?" Naruto asked. "It was brought to my attention that you are the son of the yondaime hokage," Hiashi said, as Naruto stiffend. "don't be surpised. Most of my clan is in anbu. But that's not the point. How would you feel about an arranged marriage with my oldest daughter? You seem very close." "Well, I am dating her, but I don't want to force her to do anything she doesn't want to," Naruto said, as hiashi concealed a smile. "If she agree's to it. Why?" "This marriage would be beneficial to both of our clans," hiashi said simply. "I would be able to place someone in your council seat until you are ready to take it, and you would get the protection of the most powerful clan in konoha." "I see. Thank you for your concern Hiashi-sama," Naruto said with a bow. "It has been my pleasure... Naruto-dono," the hyuuga said with a bow of his own as Naruto left the room.  
"What kept you," Sasuke asked as Naruto entered the living room of the main house of the uchiha compound. "Hiashi-sama," Naruto said. "He wanted to arrange a marriage between me and Hinata-chan." "Huh," Sasuke said. "Weird." 


	12. The birthday

Disclaimer: Hinata walks in. "Th-this m-man d-doesn't own N-Naruto-kun. Th-that p-p-pleasure b-belongs to K-Kishimoto and me." Naruto walks in. "Hey Hinata!" Hinata "EEP!" Hinata faints. Naruto, "Huh, weird."

AN: Yes I now realize that the last chapter ended up like a large paragraph. I'm sorry. I'm still working on learning the new word processor. Here's the next chapter. And this is a couple days later than where I ended.

Naruto was woken up by a bright ray of sunlight for the third time that morning.

"WHO KEEPS MOVING THE DAMN SUN?" the frustrated blonde screamed.

A familiar giggle interrupted his sun hating thoughts. Hinata jumped forward, landing hands and knees on Naruto's bed. "Happy birthday, Naruto-kun!" she exclaimed as Sasuke walked in.

The blonde started counting on his fingers as the Uchiha leaned against the door frame. "What do you know, it is my birthday."

Both of the darker haired ninja face faulted, the heiress' foot twitching slightly. "YOU FORGOT YOUR OWN BIRTHDAY?" the Hyuuga cried out.

"No," Naruto said. "It's just that I've never celebrated my birthday."

"I always wondered about that," Sasuke said.

"Until I was six, the villagers always sought me out on my birthday, other celebratory holidays, or whenever they were just plain drunk. And when they found me they beat me mercilessly," Naruto said. Hinata gasped, and Sasuke looked stunned. "The hokage explained why he couldn't do any thing. I'm sure you both noticed the low number of jonin in the village." The two darker haired ninja nodded. "we as a village were still recovering from the third ninja wars and the kyuubi attack. As such, we couldn't afford to lose any of our shinobi. The shinobi that attacked me were stripped in rank and were docked pay. Because I was still a civilian at that time, the council was able to issue pardons to any civilian that participated." he choked back a sob. "and when some kind soul finally took me to the hospital, the doctors insured that I received sub-standard treatment. They even tried to poison me, though they claimed they didn't know how the arsenic ended up in my IV." Naruto looked down, tears forming at the painful memories.

Hinata grabbed Naruto's face, lifting his head so that his deep blue eyes were staring directly into her pale lavender ones.

"You are not alone any more," the girl said, stressing the 'not'. "You have friends who care for and love you. I love you. You don't have to worry about that anymore."

"Hinata..." Naruto said.

The young heiress put a finger to his lips,effectively silencing him. She leaned forward and kissed him gently.

"AHEM," Sasuke cleared his throat loudly.

"Oh, right," Hinata said, cheeks bright red. She grabbed a box from the floor and thrust it at Naruto's chest. "Open it!"

The package was wrapped in expensive metallic wrapping paper, purple in color, with a darker purple metallic ribbon. Naruto opened the package carefully, realizing that the paper must have cost a fortune.

(Some where in Konoha a merchant was jumping for joy with several bags worth of money while in yet another part of Konoha a certain clan leader was crying about how he couldn't say no to his daughter's choice of wrapping paper.)

Inside the box was a set of documents. "What the-" Naruto said, skimming over the papers. "WHAT THE HELL?"

"What is it," the Uchiha asked him.

"M-marriage documents." the blond stammered.

"So I guess I'm looking at Konoha's latest couple," the Uchiha said.

In response, Hinata put Naruto in a hug that only anime women could. You know, the one where they end up suffocating the man they love in their breasts. Yeah, that one.

"Hinata, I think you're choking him," Sasuke said.

The lavender haired girl thrust the semi-unfortunate blonde away from her chest. Sure enough, where his eyes should be were little spirals spinning in place, and he had drool leaking from the corner of his mouth. "I'm sorry Naruto-kun!"

after ten minutes, the girl managed to revive the blonde to state of coherency. As soon as his eyes reclaimed their sparkle, she shoved the papers in his face. "sign it."

"Are you sure you want this?" the blonde asked.

"Hai," the hyuuga said, forcing a pen into the jinchuuriki's hand.

"And now it's Konoha's latest newly weds," Sasuke said as the documents were filled out.

Hinata shook her head. "They don't take effect until at least one of us is chunin, unless a ceremony is held before then." the Uchiha shrugged. Hinata gave him an evil grin. "You know, you could use a girlfriend yourself. I happen to have this... _**wonderful...**_ sister that would be perfect for you."

"I think I'll pass," Sasuke said. "I'm not a pedophile. Besides Kakashi-sensei wanted us to meet him at the training field."

"Oh yeah," Hinata said. She grabbed the blonde by the hand and dragged him out. Either she was blissfully ignorant of the fact that he was still in his pajamas, or she simply didn't care. ( "Completely prejudiced here," the author says, "but my preference is that she is ignorant of the fact-"

Hinata glares at author. "Maybe not," author shudders.)

"There you are," Kakashi said as his team arrived, one blonde in pajamas. All according to the plan. ("Plan," the author asks, "what plan?" "Shh," Kakashi whispers. "It's a secret.") "Hinata, Sasuke, the hokage wanted to see you in his office." the two bowed and ran off. "Naruto, I have a couple of special missions for you."

"REALLY?" the blonde asked with excitement, stars shining in his all black eyes... wait aren't his eyes blue? The eyes soon shifted to normal. The silver haired jonin nodded and Naruto yelled out in victory.

"I know you were raised with the Uchiha, so you should know at least one fire jutsu, right?" Kakashi asked, to which Naruto nodded. "i want you to pick one and use it on that pile of leaves over there," he gestured. "The bigger the better."

"Okay!" Naruto said. He flashed through a few hand seals before calling out "KATON: GOUKAKYU NO JUTSU!"

A massive fire ball burst from his mouth and flew towards the leaves. The pile caught fire instantly, dispelling the henge. It was revealed to be something, a semi spectacular eye sore.

"those look like..." Naruto began.

"Every last one of your hideous orange jumpsuits?" Kakashi ventured. "They are."

indeed, the pile was every last one of the hundred or so orange outfits that Naruto wore. If one looked closely, there were also oil cans and explosive notes in the pile. Naruto didn't look closely. As he ran to save at least one of the garish garments, the pile exploded, and fireworks shot out, spelling 'DEATH OF THE ORANGE JUMPSUITS, MISSION COMPLETE.'

"Your first mission today," Kakashi said. "I want you to pick out a new outfit, one that meets my approval."

"Okay," the blonde said glumly.

"Hey, don't look so down," Kakashi said. "After all, I'm the one paying for it. Think of it as a birthday present." Naruto instantly perked up. Slightly.

Naruto and Kakashi went to the nearest clothing store, Naruto using a henge to look like he was wearing his normal clothes. At first the owner of the store was adamant about refusing service to the boy, but Kakashi took the man into a corner and began talking to him in a hushed whisper, occasionally using a kunai to punctuate something he said. When they were finished, the man seemed eager to help Naruto, very eager. As if his life, or something more precious were dependent upon it.

("Hey," Kakashi says to the author with an evil grin and kunai, "don't be giving away my secrets now." the author nods and gulps.)

Naruto went through many outfits, ignoring the one's Kakashi picked out. The jonin handed him clothes that were eerily similar to his own. Reminding Naruto of a certain team, in which one genin looked exactly like his sensei, only with white bandages over his hands and the wrists, covering part of his green spandex outfit. (Else where in Konoha, Maito Gai, and his apprentice Rock Lee, sneezed.)

The blonde ended up in a sleeveless black shirt that was a little form-fitting, though very flexible, a pair of black cargo pants with a red stripe running down either leg, black and red shinobi sandals and a black and red genin vest. (take the jonin vest, add two pockets, just underneath the existing pockets. Make the vest black, with red pockets (the top flaps of each pocket only), shoulders, and collar. The trimming next to the zipper is also red. By the way, has any else noticed that the chunin and jonin vests look exactly alike? And yes the red spiral that is usually on Konoha shinobis' clothes is on Naruto's vest.

"Not too bad Naruto," Kakashi said. '_DAMN! He'll have to beat the girls back with a stick.'_

"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said. As he bought the out fit, three more in the same colors, and two each in blue and green. With Kakashi's money.

Kakashi next took Naruto to the weapon store. Kakashi steered Naruto, not an easy task I assure you, to the swords. Naruto pouted, seeing as he wanted to look at the new kunai and shuriken and other throwing weapons. While in the sword department they ran into Morino Ibiki, the head of the Torture and Interrogation department of Konoha's intelligence.

"Ibiki-san!" Naruto called out. Training underneath Itachi, Naruto met all sorts of people from the …. shadier... side of Konoha's law enforcement.

"Hey Naruto," the usually cold and sadistic man said with a warm smile. "what are you doing here?"

("You ever tell a soul," Ibiki threatened, "I'll make you live to regret it." "well," the author said, "it is in the story so people are going to read it..." Ibiki gave a sadistic grin and pulled out a dull, splintery wooden spoon that still managed to have rust on it. "Left nut? Or right?" "I have a story to finish," the author said, backing up. "It doesn't take a nut to write a story does it?" Ibiki asked. "Besides, it'll only take a moment." Author uses a desperation move. "AUTHOR STYLE: WALL OF GIBERISH JUTSU!" a visible wall of words forms in between the two men. The author sighs with relief as Ibiki sighs in defeat.)

"I'm here with Kakashi-sensei," the blonde said.

"What's with the new look?" the scarred chunin asked.

"I decided that orange is not a ninja color," Kakashi said, causing Ibiki to chuckle. "And since it is Naruto's birthday, I decided to get him a sword."

"Happy birthday Naruto," Ibiki said. He pulled out a scroll and handed it to Naruto. "it won't help much with swords, but it does wonders for taijutsu. And other things." he gently rubbed a point on the back of Kakashi's neck, causing the jonin to urinate himself involuntarily.

As Naruto opened the scroll, Kakashi turned to Ibiki "I'll get you for that." while the boy was distracted, the silver haired jonin passed a note to the scarred chunin.

"I'll catch you later, kid," Ibiki said, vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

Kakashi picked out a sturdy katana and two similar ninjato for the genin. After paying for them and dragging the blonde to the training grounds, he grabbed the scroll of pressure points from Naruto and rolled it up. "you can have this back after training. We are going over the basics of using swords. The katana is for reach and power. The ninjato are for speed, defense, and overall balance." he handed the blades to Naruto, who strapped the katana over his shoulder and the ninjato to his sides, slightly set to the rear to keep them out of the way. "now let's get started."

Kakashi taught Naruto the secret to the kage bunshin. He then proceeded to beat the boy mercilessly while the clones all practiced basic movements with the blades. They continued like this until lunch, which was delivered courtesy of Ichiraku, and then resumed training until the sun was almost setting.

"Enough," Kakashi said. "We need to report to the hokage's office now."

"Alright," Naruto grumbled. He was having fun out here training.

Before the pair had gotten more than a few steps, an anbu appeared and whispered a few words in Kakashi's ear. The silver haired jonin nodded and the anbu vanished. "it seems that there has been a change of plans. The hokage is waiting for us at your place. Let's go."

The two walked with a slow pace to the Uchiha compound.

The pace they walked out wasn't that slow, and they made a straight line for the compound, but it still took them thirty minutes to walk there. Naruto decided to name the strange event the "Kakashi Phenomenon.' the teacher and student made their way to the main sitting room. Naruto went first, and was unable to see Kakashi giving a thumbs up. As he crossed the threshold, the light flicked on and people jumped out of hiding yelling "HAPPY BIRTHDAY NARUTO(-KUN)!" (Ten points to who can guess who added the -kun at the end.)

Naruto, in surprise fell back, giving a shout of "GYAAAH!", causing everyone to laugh.

"What kind of reaction is that to an ambush," Kiba asked. Although they viewed each other as occasion rivals, Naruto and Kiba were really good friends.

"The kind that keeps me from losing my head to the nearest swordsman?" Naruto ventured, gaining his feet.

Kiba shrugged. If it works, it works. Truth be told this exact reaction will save Kiba's life in two days on a c-class bandit raiding mission.("Shh. Don't tell.")

The rest of the party went well. Every one of Naruto's precious people (Minus Itachi) (Plus a few of Sasuke's fangirls) were there. They even made a large orange cake, which they noted didn't match anymore.

Everyone brought presents, save for those who had already given Naruto gifts. Sasuke gave Naruto an ornamental black kitsune mask with red eyes, causing the older shinobi to shudder. (I wonder why. Random ninja, "*Cough*Kyuubi*Cough*.") The hokage got him a sword care kit. Anko gave the blonde a sleeveless black trench coat that fit well over his vest. (he found out that the shoulder pieces on the vest were detachable and that he could put them over the trench coat, which he did.) Hiashi gave him a pair of metal backed fingerless black gloves that went to his elbows. The metal on the gloves was red. Everyone else got him and Ayame, the owners of Ichiraku Ramen, decided to cook some of that ramen for dinner.

After the meal was cooked and everyone was eating, Hiashi and the hokage stood up. "We have an anouncement to make," Hiahsi said. "As of this morning, the paper work was completed and my daughter and Naruto shall be officially married when one of them becomes a chuunin, or we hold a ceremony at an earlier date."

This caused everyone (not including Hinata, Sasuke, or Naruto), except for Kakashi (who had finished his dinner in less than a second), to start choking on their noodles. ("Have you ever even seen your face?" the author asks Kakashi. "No," the silver haired jonin said. After an epic fight, kakashi's face is revealed. "you know, if you didn't hide your face you might get a few girls," the author said.

"Already got one." "What!" "Kakashi-Kuuuuun!" Anko calls out from a newly appeared doorway. Author's jaw drops.)

Anko was the first to recover. "Congrats gaki," she said cheefully. She then glared at Kakashi, as if telling him her finger needed a ring. Fast. But no one noticed. Or did they...?

"Anko-nee-chan?" Naruto asked.

"hmm," the snake mistress said, swallowing another mouthful of noodles.

"Are you dating Kakashi-sensei?" the blonde asked. People dropped chopsticks at the blondes stupid question. They immedieately picked them up and began eating again.

"Yes I am," the violet haired kunoichi said, causing another round of ramen choking, followed by stunned silence. Did the most oblivious boy in the world catch something everyone else overlooked? Yes he did.

After the party was over, everyone went home having strange thoughts to work out. Or, in the case of those with very active imaginations, beat out. Very determindly. Preferably with a large hammer.

Hiashi was glad he had left his youngest daughter at home. Anko was the type of woman he wanted to keep her away from. (Unfortunately for him, anko ends up being his daughter's sensei, after finding out how fun it is from helping Kakashi, though that is another chapter.)


	13. Tora the bakeneko

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, he and Hinata would already be a couple.

AN: I finally got the motivation to continue with this story. But I do have a question. Should I stop this story at the three year training trip and make a sequel, or should I make it into one long story? Let me know. I like reviews, so review.

The next morning finds team 7 getting another D-rank mission. They received pictures of their target. "The Fire Daimyo's wife's cat, Tora, has run away." the hokage explained. This happened thrice daily, and seven times on Wednesday. What no one else knew was that the cat was intelligent. It actually made the arrangement for this mission with the hokage. In order for Konoha genin to be able to take C-rank missions, they had to be able to catch Tora and return to the hokage's office with the cat in one piece. "You must find Tora and bring it safely to here." The genin nodded, not noticing Kakashi's evil/merry grin. "Go."

The shinobi save the jonin and hokage took off, in different directions. "How long do you think it will take them to catch him?" Kakashi asked.

"I don't know. Tora is pretty angry today," Hiruzen said.

Kakashi gulped.

"This is Kitsune, over," Naruto said into the mike. "I'm in position."

"This is Phoenix over," Sasuke's voice said over the head set.

"Mouse in position," Hinata's voice said.

"I have the target in sight," Naruto said. "But-"

"But what?" Sasuke asked. "Hold on, I see it... DEAR KAMI!"

"What is it?" the hyuuga asked.

The boys didn't know how to describe the sight before them. Around the cat; the heavy breathing, evil looking, foaming at the mouth angry (not rabies) cat; lay the bodies of numerous mutilated animals. This included; but was not limited to; cats, dogs, pigs, a parrot, two alligators, a giant snake, and even a rhino.

"I can think of only one way this is going to work," Naruto said, as he pulled out a blow gun and a tranquilizer dart. There was enough tranquilizer in the dart to knock out a full grown bull elephant.

With an amateurish, yet somehow practiced blow, the blonde fired. The dart flew well, sailing right at it's intended target. It even hit it's target, injecting the fluid. There was no effect.

"Tora is a demonic cat. A bakeneko. Most of our sciences don't work on it. In fact, they only serve to annoy it," the hokage's voice crackled over the headsets.

Actually the cat, if it was possible, looked even more pissed off. It ran in Naruto's direction.

The blonde turned and ran, using chakra to enhance his speed. His other two teammates caught up. On the spot, he came up with a plan. After he relayed it to the Sasuke and Hinata, the two rushed on ahead. Naruto turned toward the hokage tower. When he was close enough, he leaped through the window.

"Hereyougo,thecatsallyoursenjoy!" he said, his sentence running together.

The cat immediately followed the blonde through the window, which was closed by Naruto's teammate. It ran at the door which was shut by Naruto himself, and braced by no less than two hundred kage bunshin.

"Nice kitty," Kakashi said, approaching the cat. The demonic cat stiffened. It smelled something hated to all kitty kind. Inu. Dog. With an evil growl and a ferocious cry, the cat lunged at Kakashi and proceeded to maul the dog summoner. The hokage attempted to help, but suffered a scratch and an angry glare that promised his death if he interfered.

Two hours, a severely injured Kakashi, a minorly scratched hokage, a reinforced steel cage inside of a purified and blessed silver cage, and the fire daimyo's wife later, the genin stood relatively unscathed as they accepted their (Cut down) payment for the mission.

Under normal circumstances, they would have received seven tenths of the total payment. Due to injuries caused to their sensei and the hokage, they only received one fourth of the their usual payment.

Anko stood behind Kakashi's wheelchair with a sadistic smile. "Starting on Monday," Kakashi said, "Anko will be taking over your training. At least until I feel fully recovered." The violet haired woman's evil grin grew even larger. "Take the weekend off and enjoy your free time."

The genin were about to leave when an old man, a little on the muscular side, walked in. He appeared slightly drunk. (The bottle in his hand clearly read 'SAKE'.) "My name is Tazuna. I'd like to hire a team to escort me back to wave, and defend me and the bridge I'm building from bandits."

Anko gave a pleading look at Kakashi. The silver haired jonin sighed. "Team 7, under temporary instructor Mitarashi Anko will accept this mission," he told the hokage.

"Very well," the hokage said. "Team 7, Kakashi slash Anko," Anko beamed at the hokage's statement, " will escort the bridge builder in this C-class mission."

"They don't look like much," The old man said. "Especially the quiet purple haired one."

"WHY YOU!" Naruto yelled at the man who insulted his fiance. "I'LL KILL YOU! THEY WON'T FIND A PIECE OF YOU BIGGER THAN A PEBBLE!"

Whether he could or not was not in question as Sasuke, Hinata, Anko, five anbu captains (where'd they come from), and the hokage himself were holding Naruto back. And he was still inching forward.

Kakashi wheeled his chair in front of Naruto. "you know, it's bad for business if you kill the client. Especially if you're hired to protect him."

Naruto took a deep breath. Then another. Then seven more after that. "I'm fine," he promised calmly. He turned to face Tazuna. "If you insult my future wife again, I will kill you. Got it?"

The bridge maker nodded dumbly, then walked out, drinking his sake as fast as he could.

"Team, meet my at the gate in one hour. Pack enough for two weeks," Anko instructed. The genin nodded and vanished from sight.


	14. intermission 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

This scene is alternate event that happens based off of how the characters underwent certain changes later in this story. To any Kisame fans out there, I'm sorry that this had to happen.

"Today," Hiruzen said, "We shall be discussing the differences between this boy that people call a demon," Naruto steps forward, "and a true demon." Tora steps forward. "as you can see, the boy is calm and restrained (most of the time), while the demon must be restrained by the help of blessed silver, chakra enhanced, chains with a guard detachment of power equal to no less than a Kage." to emphasize the point, the cat strained against the chains, a creaking can be heard where the chains start to come loose. "So now that that is settled, what do you think?"

One villager raised his pitchfork. "Kill the Kyuubi brat!" the villagers rush towards Naruto.

The blonde turns toward the enemy of all genin. "Hey, cat! If you help me out here, I know of this one guy that I swear is part fish."

Tora thinks for a moment then nods. Naruto releases the chains and the cat decimates the villagers attacking Naruto. Naruto whispers in the cats ear, and the bakeneko shoots off.

"Itachi, are you sure the brat's going to be here?" asked a blue skinned, sharkish looking man in a black cloak with red clouds.

His dark haired partner turned around with an uncharacteristic smirk. "What, you afraid he's going to hand your ass to you in training again, Kisame?"

The two heard a growl and Itachi quickly shunshined away. Kisame turned to see a very evil, slightly hungry, extremely happy cat. It licked it lips and jumped at the S-class ninja. The scene fades out and the only thing heard are Kisame's girlish screams of pain and fear.

*Two hours Later*

Tsunade was checking on her most recent patient. "So what was it exactly that happened to you?"

The blue skinned man was huddled in a ball in the corner of his hospital room. It looked like there were chunks of skin missing, and he sported scratches all over.

"The cat. It was the cat. The evil cat...THE CAT!" the shark man said wide eyed, shaking in fear.


	15. Wave begins

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto in any way.

AN: Yay! The next chapter!

A few days later, team seven was walking down the road. They were walking because Tazuna absolutely refused to ride piggy back on the trip to Wave. He claimed he got sick traveling at high speeds. Then they found the puddle. The bridge keeper just passed by it, while the two male genin frowned but kept walking.

"Ano, Anko-sensei," Hinata said,stopping before the puddle.

"Just ignore it Hinata," the snake mistress said.

"Demo-" the shy girl started.

"Fine," Anko relented. "Everybody stop." _'Damn, I wish I had some of those raiton techniques of kakashi-kun's.'_

The violet haired kunoichi pulled out a small vial of dark fluid. It appeared almost purple, but much darker. She opened the vial and tilted it, a single drop rolling over the lip of the container and dropping to the puddle below.

The small pool of water started sizzling and hissing, throwing smoke everywhere.

"Damn you you bitch!" one of the ninja hiding in the puddle cursed.

"As soon as we're able to move, we'll kill the boys, have are way with you, then kill you. And that other girl too," the other nin promised.

Anko did the only practical thing she could think of in that situation. She place one hand over Hinata's eyes and another over Sasuke's as Naruto drew his katana.

"YOU'LL DO WHAT?" the blond growled.

He began to viciously beat the two nin, know as the demon brothers from the hidden mist village. He primarily used the flat of his blade so as to leave them alive for interrogation. However, he did use the edge for a quick castration, causing even Anko to wince in sympathy. When he finished his assault, the demon brothers were shades of black, blue, and purple, though there was a lot of red in certain nether regions on their bodies.

After they were bound, which was hardly necessary after Naruto's assault, the genin turned to their sensei.

"Who were they?" Sasuke asked, causing the other ninja to sweat drop. Quite a change for once.

"They were the demon brothers. Nuke nin from Kiri, hired for a reason. I'm willing to bet that the reason has something to with our friend the bridge builder here." Tazuna stiffened.

"Hai," he admitted. He proceeded to explain the situation with his village and Gato. How the village was falling to Gato's stranglehold on the economy. How the bridge was the only hope for the country. How even the nobles of the country were so poor that they couldn't afford a proper ranked mission.

"Fine," Anko said. "Because this is now a B-ranked mission we're going to go back to Kon-"

"Tazuna-san We'll help you!" Naruto exclaimed, interrupting Anko, the other two genin nodding their assent.

Anko face faulted, her trench coat miraculously defying the laws of physics to hide what was underneath, even as it should have slid down or at the very least fallen over.

"Lead the way, Tazuna-san," Hinata said.

The builder nodded and walked off in the direction they were originally heading, surrounded by three genin while a single jonin followed behind, shoulders slumped in defeat.

"So why are we on a boat in the mist?" Naruto asked, just slightly too loud for comfort.

"So we don't get caught," the lavender haired kunoichi whispered. "It's easier to sneak if you can't be seen you know." (Note: Lavender hair = Hinata. Violet hair = Anko. Glad that's cleared up.)

"It's also easier sneak if you're unheard too," Sasuke whispered.

Naruto sighed at the obvious admonishment.

The boat quietly pulled up to a dock built in the middle of nowhere, and the shinobi and Tazuna exited. They waved to the boat driver as he wished them good luck. They followed a path down the forest.

A rustling bush caught their attention, and all the shinobi threw kunai at it out of reflex. Naruto walked over to check it out and saw a white rabbit.

"What is it Naruto," Anko asked.

"It's a rabbit," Naruto said.

"Oh," Hinata said.

"The strange part is that it's white, like it hasn't seen the sun in forever," Naruto finished.

"Good job Naruto," Anko said. "Every one stay on alert."

As they proceeded down the path, mist began to develop. "That's natural," Tazuna assured them. "This close to the ocean, it becomes foggy easily."

The mist thickened as the day wore on. "Is the mist supposed to be this thick?" Naruto asked.

"No," Tazuna said. "It's never been this bad."

There was a swooshing/whistling noise from behind them. "Everybody down!" Anko yelled, dragging Tazuna with her. The genin hit the dirt as quickly as possible as a massive sword flew over their heads and buried part of the blade into a tree.

"Well,well," a man asked, appearing on the blade. He wore pale camouflage leg and arm warmers with light blue pants. The lower half of his face, his neck, and part of his chest were obscured by bandages. "What do we have here?"

"Zabuza," Anko spat, obviously getting angry at something.

"Anko?" Zabuza asked. He blinked a couple of times to make sure he was seeing properly. "Oh shit."


	16. Demon of the mist

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But I love putting him in interesting or embarrassing situations in fan fiction.

AN: N/A

Last time on "Village of the Bijuu":

"Well,well," a man asked, appearing on the blade. He wore pale camouflage leg and arm warmers with light blue pants. The lower half of his face, his neck, and part of his chest were obscured by bandages. "What do we have here?"

"Zabuza," Anko spat, obviously getting angry at something.

"Anko?" Zabuza asked. He blinked a couple of times to make sure he was seeing properly. "Oh shit."

Now:

"Anko-sensei, you know this man," Hinata asked.

"You have five seconds to explain yourself before I kick you ass," Anko said dangerously.

"well, um. Where do you want me to begin?" the man asked, sweating profusely.

"How 'bout the part where you stood me up?" Anko asked, still radiating anger.

"That was the assassination attempt on the mizukage," Zabuza cowered back. "I had completely forgotten."

Anko stomped forward, grabbed the man by the neck and started pummeling him black and blue. "ASSASSINATION OF THE MIZUKAGE? YOU STOOD ME UP ON OUR DATE SO YOU COULD GO KILL SOME OLD GEEZER? YOU DIDN'T EVEN THINK OF ASKING ME TO JOIN IN? YOU INSENSITIVE, ARROGANT MOTHERFUCKING ASSHOLE!"

The three genin were visibly shaking from the amount of killing intent permeating the air. Tazuna, not being a ninja, was actually trying to dig a hole into a tree that was behind his back to get away from the psychotic snake woman.

"Anko sensei," Naruto asked. "You used to date him?"

Anko stopped her punishment of Zabuza for a moment. "Yeah, it was a LONG time ago. I was about your age, I think." she looked down at the unfortunate 'Demon of the Mist.' "If it were for any other reason than for killing someone, I would have castrated your sorry ass." she dropped him. "So, how's your 'daughter'?"

"I'm doing fine, thank you Anko-san," answered a girl in a Kiri hunter-nin uniform and mask. "And you dated Zabuza-sama about five years ago."

"Thank you Haku-chan," Anko said in such a happy tone that nobody would've known that she was angry just three seconds ago. (Author turns to Anko. "Are you bipolar?" Anko looks at author, "That's not the only bi about me." she winks and author flies back with massive nosebleed.)

"So, I suppose that Gato paid you to take out Tazuna," Hinata said to Haku.

"Yeah," Haku answered. "Anko-san, I need your help."

"With what?" Anko asked.

"You see, Zabuza-sama still thinks Gato is going to pay him after his mission," Haku said.

"You baka," Anko said, punching Zabuza in the back of the head. "Gato is not going to pay you, no matter how well you kill someone."

"I'll kill that minikui ass chibi," Zabuza swore. He grabbed his sword from where it was impaled in the tree. With a quick jerk he ripped the sword, an a decent sized chunk of the tree, out of the tree.

"Oi! Zabuza-san!" Naruto called. "Why don't you come with us?"

"I don't see why not," Haku told the man, while staring at the Uchiha.

The demon of the mist sighed. He was getting too soft for his own good. He looked at his adopted daughter who was staring at... the dark haired boy? Odd. "Fine, we'll go."

"Zabuza-san?" the blonde asked walking up to him. Zabuza saw the three blades on the boy. "Can you help me with my kenjutsu?"

"**That boy is the same as you," **a voice said in Zabuza's head. **"I don't know which bijuu, but it is stronger than I. Befriend him, train him. He needs it desperately."**

_'well, sanbi if you're sure.' _Zabuza thought.

"**Sure? I'm dead certain! Now accept that boys plea and help him!" **The sanbi roared.

"Very well gaki," Zabuza said. "I shall make you my second apprentice." Everyone stared at him. "_HE _said to."

Haku and Anko gasped and looked nervous. Zabuza was in fact the jinchuuriki of the three tailed sea serpent. Unlike the kyuubi, the sea serpent was practical in what it destroyed. It didn't destroy settlements because sometimes the humans would give it snacks. It didn't destroy land forms because the only one's it could would inevitably disturb the water it lived in, driving away the fish that it liked to eat so much. Prior to sealing of course.

"**Hey, kit," **kyuubi told Naruto. **"That man is also a jinchuuriki. You made a good choice for a teacher. Hehehe."**

"How many tails?" Naruto asked his new sensei.

"Three," Zabuza answered. "And you?"

"Nine," Naruto answered.

The others around Naruto and Zabuza were looking at them like they were crazy. Which they were, but that's besides the point.

"Ano," Hinata asked. "What's going on?"

"He's a jinchuuriki," Naruto said. "But why don't we get a move on? I'm sure Tazuna-san would love to get home."

with a little assent, the group started on their way to Tazuna's house. Before Zabuza called out a halt.

"What's up?" Anko said.

"I almost forgot that I rigged this path way with enough traps to take down all the kage's and their next three successors," Zabuza said. "Mostly lethal stuff. You know, spiked pits, pendulums, acid coated arrows, poison coated darts. The usual."

Anko grinned. "Alright gaki! Time to lose some fat!" She pushed Naruto down the trail.

"Will he be okay?" Hinata asked, slightly (breaking Sasuke's arm) worried.

"He'll be fine. Foxes luck," Anko said, before realizing that she let something slip about kyuubi.

"Why would he have foxes luck?" Haku asked.

"He's the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune," Zabuza said, saving Anko from the sandaime's law.

Naruto stumbled, twisted, jumped, ducked, and rolled down the path, tripping every trap and narrowly avoiding them by sheer luck. Except for the last one. He was hit with a tranquilizer dart to the neck.

"How ironic," he managed to say before falling over.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled, rushing to the boy's prone form.

"If my otouto dies from this I'll-" Anko left her threat to Zabuza hang, despite the fact that she was the one who pushed Naruto into the trap laden path.

"Zabuza-sama? Is he going to be okay?" Haku asked.

Zabuza only shrugged before going to join the group checking on his latest apprentice.


	17. Elements discovered

Disclaimer: I own not the great anime or manga of Naruto.

AN: updating will be slow for the next week and a half, I am on vacation and must share my internet with sisters and step brother. When I'm not being dragged around town like a rag doll.

Naruto woke with a headache. Not the kind you get when you have a hangover. The kind where your head seems to be split over and over again with a dull ax while some one is quickly zapping the brains with a tesla coil.

The first thing the blonde noticed, as he clutched his head, was that the room he was in was not his own. The headache faded quickly as he felt then saw Hinata draped over him. The last thing he noticed was that his clothes, save for his boxers, were no where in sight.

"So you're up," a voice called out from the door.

"AAH!" Naruto scr- (Evil Naruto Glare) – yelled. "Don't scare me like that Anko-nee-chan!"

The woman chuckled. "You know, you have a pretty nice looking me," she cooed seductively. She was only teasing him. Maybe.

The boy turned a bright shade of crimson, while a kunai whistled by Anko's ear. "I don't share," Hinata said from half sleep.

"Not even a little?" Anko asked like a little kid.

"Well..." Hinata said.

"Hinata! You can't be serious!" Naruto shouted. "Anko is my nee-chan!"

"Kinky," Anko said, rubbing on the nearly naked blonde.

"Can I watch?" Hinata asked.

"Anything for you imouto. Maybe you could join in?" the jonin tempted. At the blonde's horrified expression (though the tent in his pants seemed to disagree), Anko responded, "We're just messing with you gaki."

Both kunoichi got up and started to walk out the door as Naruto sighed in relief. Then both girls said over their shoulder, "Maybe..."

Then jinchuuriki couldn't take it anymore. He passed out as twin rockets of blood erupted from his nose, somehow not staining the sheets or his suddenly reappeared clothes.

With Sasuke

The Uchiha was training with Haku. He was interested in the girl. It was obvious she had a crush on him, which he had noticed on the second of the days that Naruto was passed out. He was interested in the fact that, though she had a crush, she was strong and fast enough to keep up with him. And she didn't seem to pull any of her punches (unlike certain Konoha kunoichi).

Haku was very interested in Sasuke. He didn't whine when he was beat, and when he beat someone he was 'kind' enough to point out what needed to be corrected.

Zabuza was supervising the two ninja in their sparring match. The Uchiha developed a cut from one of the few hits Haku was able to land with a senbon. There was a redish gold spark as the wound stopped bleeding and quickly healed.

_'what the...' _ Zabuza thought.

"**That kid is another jinchuuriki," **the sanbi told him. **"He is one of those that had a bijuu willingly seal themselves within their hosts. The ones that sealed themselves as such, to my knowledge, are the yon, go, roku, and nanabi. From the goldish chakra, I would presume that the bijuu within that one is the nanabi no suzaku."**

_'does anyone else know? Does he know?' _Zabuza asked.

"**No," **the bijuu thought.

_'oh well,' _Zabuza thought.

Haku was currently dodging Sasuke's attacks effortlessly, or almost. She was sweating from the exertion that she was going through to keep away. He was good, she admitted to herself. Really good.

Her foot slipped over a rock as she evaded another attack. She fell forward into the boy, their lips meeting. Total accident.

("Zabuza-san?" the author asks. "Yeah," the mist nin asked. "Did you throw that rock that your daughter slipped on?" "Yeah, I did. What of it?" "Nothing.")

When they finally pulled apart, Haku looked into Sasuke's eyes. She knew it was meant to be. He (Sasuke) knew it was meant to be.

"Finally," Zabuza said. The other two ninja looked at him in astonishment. "You two making googly eyes at each other during the spar was kind of embarrassing." he narrowed his eyes at Sasuke. "you better take good care of her or I'll..." he let the threat hang. Sasuke nodded dumbly.

"Oi! Sasuke!" Anko called from a distance away. "Get your uppity ass over here!"

The Uchiha reluctantly departed from his new found love. ("Isn't it sweet? To see Sasuke with someone? In love?" the author asks. "I'm still going to kill Itachi," Sasuke said. Haku latches onto Sasuke's arm. "Maybe...") When he arrived, Anko handed him a sheet of paper. Looking over, he saw that Naruto and Hinata each held one as well.

"What is this?" the Uchiha asked.

"Alright, listen up," Anko said much like a sports coach giving his team a pep talk. In fact, the genin actually formed up into a huddle. "This is chakra paper. If you feed enough chakra into the paper, it will reveal your elemental affinity. The reason I gave you this paper is two fold. One, I can start training you on your affinity. And two. Two is that I learn something about you that Kakashi-kun doesn't know about you first!" the three genin sweat dropped. "Okay, so if the paper cuts, it's wind. If it gets damp, then it's water. Lightning it wrinkles. Earth becomes a rock. And it burns for fire. Emo... you first."

Sasuke channeled chakra into the paper, which crinkled and then immolated itself. Everyone blinked.

"Well, two elements isn't common, but not unheard of," Anko said. "Girly, you next."

Hinata focused and the paper cut cleanly before soaking and freezing.

"Ookay," Anko said. "Gaki your turn."

"Let's do it!" the blonde yelled, causing Zabuza and Haku to look over at them. He channeled the chakra into his paper. It split twice, causing it to separate into for sheets. One soaked, one burned, one crinkled, and the last one turned into a rock.

"What the hell?" Anko yelled. The two former mist shinobi strode over to see what the fuss was. "Do it again," Anko demanded thrusting another paper into Naruto's hands. He repeated the process to the same result.

"Interesting boy you got here, Anko," Zabuza said. "I am supposed to train him, so why not start?" he grabbed Naruto and vanished.

"Whose?" Haku asked, pointing at the iced over sheets on the ground. Hinata raised her hand and Haku grabbed the girl and disappeared.

"Well, Sasuke, it seems you are going to be learning from me," Anko said. "I have this really good fire type move that's actually a taijutsu move."

"Let me see it," Sasuke said.

"Alright," Anko said. She vanished and reappeared behind Sasuke. "Secret Konoha Art: Sennen Goroshi!"

Her hands flashed through several hand signs, ending on tora. She thrust up towards Sasuke's unprotected posterior. He shot up.

Above the forest on the island that formed wave country, a small blue spot was flying upward. If one were to look closely, there were two arms going to the bottom of the spot, clutching what one would assume to be it's rear.


	18. The Bridge

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I wouldn't be sitting in the middle of a desert. Alright maybe I would, but that's besides the point.

AN: It is a beautiful, sweltering hot day here in Afghanistan, and I bring news. I have temporary internet access so I can update. The bad news, it's slow. And due to my actually working now, I won't always be able to get on. Sorry. ON WITH THE STORY!

For those of you who are confused as to when this takes place, read the last actual chapter of the story again.

ONE WEEK LATER

Most of team 7, as well as Haku, were on the bridge guarding Tazuna and a few builders, as most of the works had quit. There was no sign of Naruto or Zabuza.

An arrow whistled and Anko tackled the old man as the wood shaft buried in a wooden crate.

"Aw, such a shame," a bandit said.

Looking in the direction of the voice, the shinobi saw a veritable army of bandits. Too many for even them.

"Damn it!" Anko swore.

"SUITON: SUIRYUUDAN!" two male voices called out as their respective owners landed on the bridge. Two massive dragons of water rose out of the ocean, one slightly smaller than the other and not quite as stable, yet still formidable. Both dragons crashed into the bandit horde.

The bandit line wavered at the ferocity of the single attack. The other shinobi berated themselves for not thinking of ninjutsu.

"What the hell are you doing?" a dimunitive voice from the back tried to roar. "Get them!"

The mob rushed forward, intent on getting away from the annoying voice as quickly as possible. In the gaps between bodies, they could finally see Gato. He was a tiny, fat man. He had a dark blue business suit and a BAD mustache. The sun reflected off of his shades.

Naruto looked over to Zabuza. The two smirked at each other and drew their blades. They charged into the fray. The bandits didn't last too long. If you can call running with your tail (figuratively) between your legs lasting.

"Pft," Gato scoffed. Just as the two swordsman shinobi were about to reach him, he flashed through some hand signs and shouted "Fuuton: Daitoppa!"

The two shinobi were blown back to their comrades feet. They all stared at the fat man.

"You're a shinobi?" Naruto asked.

"Of course not," the man said with disdain. "Any fool can learn to use chakra. A nuke nin here and there that were a bit free with jutsu and I'm just as good as any of you." He grinned. "Suiton: Water Prison Jutsu!"

Naruto was the only one to avoid the technique.

"Zabuza-sama," Haku said, "We seem to be trapped in your technique."

"Haku," Zabuza said, thoroughly embarrassed, "Shut up."

"Hai, Zabuza-sama," the girl agreed.

"Now I know how kakashi-kun's enemies usually feel," Anko muttered.

"Now for a quick physics lesson," Gato said. "Raiton: Lightning bolt jutsu!"

"No!" Naruto yelled.

Inari was sitting on the railing of the balcony, remembering his... conversation with Naruto.

FLASHBACK

_The Konoha ninja were eating when Inari burst out "Why are you fighting Gato? You can't win!"_

_Naruto gave his foxy grin. "I will win. I gave my word. I never go back on my word, I never give up. That's my nindo, my ninja way._

"_If you go against Gato, you'll die!" the kid screamed. "You'll all die!"_

_Naruto slammed his hand on the table, forcing himself into a standing position. "Why don't you just shut up? I know you've had some hard times, but what about the other people? They've just as hard a time as you, if not worse! Get out of Drama Queen Loser mode and get a hold of yourself!"_

_Naruto turned around and strode out of the house, anger rolling off of him in waves._

"_Inari-kun," Hinata said. "Try to calm down." The boy looked at her with tears still in his eyes. "Naruto-kun had it really bad growing up. Until he was six, the villagers did really bad things to him. Even now, a lot of the villagers still hate him and are mean to him. All for something that he has no control over."_

"_It couldn't have been that bad," Inari said._

_Anko slammed her fist on to the table. "I'm going through the same exact damn thing he is right now!But for him it was worse! How would you feel if every year on your birthday, your entire village beat you senseless? And then there were holidays! How would you like it if the other kids parents told their children not to play with you?" She glared at the boy. "That was his life growing up. You don't know shit about hard times. Get it through your head, there are people who suffer worse." She pointed at Hinata. "She was, until recently, ostracized by her clan for being 'weak'." Her finger shifted to Sasuke. "His entire clan was slaughtered before him, and he was forced to relive it over and over again for the entire night! And he couldn't do a thing about it!" _

_Unable to take anymore, Anko burst out of the room through the same exit Naruto went through. (The next day, the villagers of wave found a massive crater that had even more signs of utter destruction all through out it.) The tears in her eyes were clearly visible._

_Inari could only stare at her as she left._

FLASHBACK END

The boy sighed as his memories drifted to his next meeting with Naruto.

FLASHBACK

_Two nights later, Inari found Naruto sitting on the railing of the balcony. The boy slowly walked forward._

"_Hey, kid," Naruto said._

"_Is it true?" Inari asked. "That stuff that the purple haired lady said, about the villagers beating you and hating you?"_

"_Yeah," Naruto said, still looking off into the distance._

"_But why?" Inari asked._

"_Do you know what a bijuu is?" Naruto asked. Inari shook his head no. "A bijuu is a demon of pure chakra. They are given shape and focus by the lost souls that make them up. I have one of those sealed inside of me. The Kyuubi no Kitsune. It was originally made of souls that felt pain and anger. The villagers didn't see me, they saw the fox reborn."_

"_And you still help them?" the boy asked._

"_I do," Naruto said. "I help them because I want them to see who I really am. I want them to respect me and, eventually, to accept me as an equal."_

_The two sat there quiet for a while, staring at the stars. Inari was the one who broke the silence. "Naruto?"_

"_Hmm?" the blonde asked._

"_I'm sorry about the other night," the younger kid said._

"_It's no big deal," Naruto said._

_Hidden on the other side of the door, the rest of the shinobi were listening to the conversation with feelings of pride and awe at Naruto's will to carry on despite all that had happened to him._

FLASHBACK END

Inari headed down stairs to get a glass of water from the kitchen. He dropped the glass when he heard a scream from outside. He rushed out of the house to see his mother being manhandled by two thugs.

"Let go of my mom!" Inari yelled.

"Can I kill him?" one of the thugs asked the other.

"Go ahead, Gato only needs one prisoner," the second one said.

"No!" Tsunami cried. "If you kill him, I'll bite my own tongue and drown myself with my own blood!"

"Bitch!" the second thug cursed, slapping her with enough force to knock her unconscious.

The first thug drew his blade and it over his head. "Nighty night kid."

Then he screamed, clutching the stump that used to be the hand that held his blade.

"Who's there?" the other thug demanded.

In response a shinobi landed on the ground before him.

The ninja wore an all black cloak, with a sword harness and pauldron over it. The pauldron was attached to the rest of the light armor through the cloak on his left shoulder. In the sword harness was a massive double edged sword with the kanji for Requiem of Darkness going down the length of the blade.

Upon his face was a half mask. It was shaped as a skull, but larger. There was no jaw, though a little past his own mouth two fangs dropped to end at his jaw line. He had dark shoulder length hair and brilliant red eyes.

"Wh-wh-who are you?" the bandit with both hands asked.

"Death," the shinobi said.

The shinobi's arm swung out over his shoulder to grasp his sword's hilt, revealing the outfit underneath.

He wore standard black shinobi pants and a black tight shirt that had sleeves that ended slightly below the elbow. He had a pair of fingerless gloves with a metal plate over the knuckles. On his body, he wore a red armor vest that ended about halfway down his torso, covering only the chest. (think of maebara keichi's vest in the higurashi no naku koro ni series).

With quick, deft movements, the shinobi beheaded both bandits. He quickly flicked his wrist to remove the blood from his blade. He had done all this with one arm, as if the behemoth blade were weightless. With his open arm, he caught the unconscious woman as she fell.

"Who are you," Inari asked.

"I am," the man said, setting Tsunami gently on the ground, "Yamimaru. I'm here looking for the jinchuuriki of the kyuubi no kitsune."

"What do you want with Naruto?" the boy asked suspiciously.

"It's important ninja business. I promise you I mean him no harm," The man said with a charming smile.

"He's at the bridge, with my granddad," Inari said. "We need to get some people to help them."

At the bridge

As Gato was taking out the ninja, his army was reforming.

"Raiton: Lightning bolt no jutsu!"

"No!" Naruto yelled as the lightning hit the orb of water.

The water sphere conducted the electricity very well, though it was evaporated in the process, dropping the shinobi to the ground. None of them appeared to be breathing.

"No," Naruto said. "No, no,no,no,no, NO!"

"They were so weak," Gato said. "I can't see how they were expecting to hurt me, much le-"

"Urusanei!" Naruto yelled. A chakra that was blood red started to form around him.

"**Take my power Kit,"** the kyuubi said.

"What do you think you can do?" Gato said.

"I'm going to kill you," Naruto said. As the red chakra enveloped him, his features changed.His canines became much more pronounced, his whisker marks widened. His eyes became red and the pupils slit.

The short fat man stared in horror at the sight before him. Before he could move, there was a sudden painful burst at his stomach, sending him rolling down the bridge. Before he got too far, the man was sent sky ward from a swift kick. As he crested, Naruto was above him leg raised. He did a flip, slamming his heel into the fat man's gut. He crashed into the bridge, splintering the boards below. Gato struggled to his feet, only to feel another pain. This one in his chest. Looking down, he saw an arm going into his chest, just about where his heart was. He slumped over, quite dead.

The red aura faded from Naruto. He looked to his companions, to see them stirring. A faint gold and red chakra was fading from them as well. A sound drew his weary gaze. He saw an arrow being loosed from the bow of a bandit. He saw it arch in the air and come down in his direction. He was too tired to move.

_'Heh. Guess this is it,'_ Naruto thought as he fell unconscious. _'Gomen nasai, Hinata-chan. Sarabunda.'_

A man in a hooded black cloak landed in front of Naruto's unconscious form. He caught the arrow between his index and middle fingers by the head of the projectile. Then he dropped it.

"Come on!" one of the bandits yelled. "They're weak from the Gato's attack. We can take them. We'll have this island to ourselves!"

As the bandits were rallying under their new leader, a crossbow bolt landed in the bridge with a thunk.

The army of raiders looked up to see the entire village before them. At the head was Inari, Tsunami, and Yamimaru.

"You won't step foot on this island again," Inari said defiantly.

The leader bandit grinned. He rose his blade over his head, and the army tensed. With a swift motion, he sliced downward and the bandits charged.

The shinobi in front of Naruto stared flashing through hand signs, as did Yamimaru.

"Hikariton: Hikariryuu endan!" the ninja protecting the blonde yelled, and a dragon of pure light burst forth and charged the bandits from one side.

"Yamiton: Yamiryuu endan!" Yamimaru shouted, a dragon of darkness forming. It too charged the bandits.

"Munashiiton: Munashiiryuu endan!" a female voice shouted. Another dragon that was visible yet not formed. It seemed to adsorb everything it came into contact with. It slammed down into the center of the bandits at the same time that the light and shadow dragons reached the center, causing a massive energy explosion that cleared the bridge of all bandits, yet left everything else intact.

The explosion blinded everyone. When they regained their sight, there was a woman, about Naruto's age, standing where the bandits used to be.

She wore a black shinobi outfit. The shirt was loose on the upper sleeves, but tightened down for the forearms, where she wore black leather bracers with silver designs. The torso of her shirt was low cut and tight. Her pants were black as well, with black boots with silver designs similar to her bracers. She had black hair and silver eyes.

"It took you long enough, Kikono-chan," the hooded shinobi said.

"Shut up Hikari-kun," the kunoichi said.

The shinobi shrugged and removed his hood, revealing short blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes. "Why don't you make me?"

"Okay," the girl said, approaching the boy with a glint in her eye.

Yamimaru rolled his eyes. "You two can get all mushy later. Right now, I need to check on my cousin."

"Who are you," Hinata asked as the dark haired boy approached.

"I'm Namikaze Yamimaru. Naruto's cousin. Nice to meet you."


	19. Homecoming

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any affiliated characters. Any similarities between my story and others on this site are pure coincidence. I do own my own OCs.

AN:Reviews weren't very good last chapter, but I'm sure if I were updating one of the other stories, I would have been flooded with them. So review at the end of the chapter. I can take criticism.

Team 7 and company were on their way back to Konoha. They had already sent a detailed message as to who was coming. The Hokage already had the mission report and was awaiting the arrival of the group.

The two guards on gate guard duty for the day were the chuunin Izumo and Kotetsu. They were expecting the kind of day that Shikamaru wants when he was on duty. Unfortunately, Kossuth saw the massive dust cloud rapidly approaching the gate.

"Izumo, wake up," the chuunin said, pounding the sleeping nin on the back of his head.

"Itai!" the nin said, rubbing his head. "What was that for?"

"Look," Izumo pointed.

By now the two chuunin could see what was causing the dust. There was a very high speed wagon. Pulling the wagon were three genin of Konoha that they recognized. Hyuuga Hinata, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto (Only the really higher up ninja clans know of his lineage, the council does not.). There was also a fourth shinobi assisting the pulling. She wore Kiri hunter robes.

Sitting on the wagon itself, towards the rear were four people. There were two figures in cloaks. One was obviously male, the other was hooded in addition to his concealing attire. There were also two females, chatting very closely. One was none other than Mitarashi Anko of Konoha, but the other was unknown. She wore dark clothes that were outlined by silver. She was at once cute and drop dead gorgeous.

The most surprising figure of all was standing on the front of the wagon. He had on dark blue pants and a dark blue shirt. Over his shins were his light blue and grey camo leg warmers. On his back he had the Kubikiri Hocho. His lower face and neck were wrapped in bandages. In each hand he held two whips that he was masterfully working. None of the cracks actually hit the genin, but the shinobi were scared enough that it didn't matter.

By the time the chuunin were register all this, the wagon had passed by.

Zabuza was working whips masterfully. The genin were muttering under there breath that his new nickname would be slave driver. Except for Naruto.

"Oi! Eely," Naruto yelled at him, causing the group in the cart to sweat drop. Only Naruto would find a nickname to call the jinchuuriki of a sea serpent. "Put those away, we're almost there."

The swordsman grinned evilly underneath his bandages. "Faster maggots!" he roared as he started cracking the whips twice as fast. The genin picked up the pace to match the whips.

"Gai-sensei!" a boy in green spandex called out. He had a bowl cut hair style for his pitch black hair and extremely bushy eyebrows. His eyes were round. To match the ensemble, he had neon orange leg warmers on his legs and stark white bandages on his wrists. He wore his hitai-ate on his waist like a belt.

"Yes lee?" the older man asked. He looked like lee, only older and without the bandages.

"I saw an incredibly youthful act!" Lee said. Very loudly.

"Yosh!" Gai cried out. "What was it?"

"Four younger people were helping five elder people around the village in a cart with no horses!" Lee said.

"Their Flames of Youth burn brightly!" Gai exclaimed.

"I shall endeavor to to train harder to match their youth!" Lee cried.

"If you can't do that, I will run around Konoha twenty times on my hands!" Gai promised.

"If you can't do that, I will do ten thousand pushups!" Lee swore.

"If you can't do that, I will do ten thousand situps!" Gai cried.

"Gai-sensei!" Lee cried.

"Lee!" the older man yelled happily.

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

The two came together in a man hug, a sunset on a cliff over the ocean scene appeared behind them as they cried in each others arms.

"Shut up!" the other two team members cried out. Which did nothing as the two were completely engrossed in what they were doing.

At that time Kurenai, the jonin instructor for team eight, as well as the genjutsu mistress of Konoha, walked by. The sight was horrifying.

She made the appropriate sign and shouted "Kai!" When it didn't seem to work, she gathered more chakra. "Kai!" …. "Kai, Kai, Kai, Kai, Kai, KAI!" nothing happened. That was when it hit her. "It's not genjutsu, it's ninjutsu." She abruptly turned around and ran off in search of Kakashi.

The four 'horses' came to a stop in front of the hokage tower. They slumped over, their task done.

At the door to the tower was Hatake Kakashi and Sarutobi Hiruzen. "Yo," the jonin said, raising one hand. He pulled out a book similar to his usual orange one, only it was red. Three of the shinobi at the cart regained their strength immediately and appeared behind Kakashi's shoulder, eyes sparkling.

"He actually corrupted his team?" Zabuza asked, looking at the young adults around the one eyed jonin.

"No," Kakashi said, as he opened his book to page one, "They did a good job of that themselves." He turned to the genin. "I haven't' started yet. Want to read along?"

The genin nodded eagerly and looked on as the jonin turned the pages. He was reading slowly so that he could savor the story, which was fine for the genin as they couldn't read as fast a jonin who was trained to collect information from enemy scrolls as quickly as possible.

This left Anko to explain their guests.

"- and this is Zabuza," the man waved as Anko introduced him, " and his apprentice slash adopted daughter Haku," she gestured to the blank spot where Haku had been before. "Haku?"

Haku had actually gone over to see what had ensnared the attention of her precious Sasuke-kun. She saw the name of the book. Icha Icha: Fiery Passions. Curious as to what the book was, seeing as how it wasn't published in Kiri, she peeked over Sasuke's shoulder, and in turn Kakashi's. She only managed to read a few lines before she was literally blown back with the force of the blood rocketing in twin streams from her nose.

Sasuke appeared behind the girl, catching her and laying her gently on the ground before making sure she was alright. Kakashi and Hiruzen stared at the boy's ministrations.

"Seems Sasuke," Kakashi said with a smile, "has found himself a girlfriend."

…..

All around Konoha, fan girls felt a terrible feeling of dread that their precious Sasuke-kun wasn't on the market any more. More than one fell down to their knees in tears. One fan girl in particular decided to find the disturbance in the …. whatever force it is that fan girls use.

…..

After ten minutes, Haku finally woke up. "Sasuke-kun," the girl asked. "Do you have the first book?"

"Yeah," he said, holding her close. In the back ground, Yamimaru was making gagging sounds. The sets of couples saw this and grinned evilly. They paired up, Naruto and Hinata, Sasuke and Haku, Kakashi and Anko, and Hikari with Kikono. They made a formation around him and promptly started making out with their partners.

"One moment, I think I need to go throw up," the boy said, going to the other side of the cart.

"ANYWAYS," Hiruzen said, getting everyone's attention. They all focused on him, blushing furiously. There was a clicking sound, like the shutters on a camera closing when it takes a picture. A camera like the one in Zabuza's hands...

"Black mail," the swordsman said evilly.

"We need to instate all the newcomers as Konoha shinobi," the hokage said, ignoring the camera. "The process may take a few days. I will need your ranks and a generalized list of your skills." He forced the group to move to his office inside the tower.

It turned out that the shinobi team that included Naruto's cousin was from Yomi no Sato, from Oni no Kuni. They each had one extremely powerful dragon technique that they had made themselves, but it required at least five eighths of their total chakra. The good new about the techniques was that they usually got rid of the enemy in one go, and they could be combined (as evidenced on the bridge) for a devastating attack that wouldn't harm the environment.

It also turned out that they were ambassadors to Konoha from Yomi to, not only find Naruto, but also maintain positive relations with the village.

"Naruto," Hiruzen said. "I believe that it's time you gain part of your inheritance. The Namikaze estate." after a moment of silence he looked up to notice all the genin, except for the Yomi nin, were missing. He sighed.

"If I may, Hokage-sama," Yamimaru said. "I am too of the Nami-"

"NARUTO! HOW DARE YOU LET THIS GIRL GET CLOSE TO SASUKE-KUN?" a shrill voice called out, interrupting everyone. A few moments later, Naruto came crashing in through the window, leaving an imprint of himself in the opposite wall.

The hokage sighed and went to pick Naruto up. As soon as he was coherent again, he pressed a key into his hand. "It's for the Namikaze estates." Naruto brightened up. "There is a blood seal on the door, but I know you can open it." when he looked for Naruto again, the boy had taken his cousin with him, leaving the other two Yomi nin in the office. He looked at them. "Do either of you play shogi?"

The two Namikaze rushed to the estate as quickly as possible. When they were there, Naruto bit his thumb, drawing blood, and wiped it across the door. Seals of many colors and forms flashed before their eyes before disappearing.

"We're not dead yet, so that must be a good sign," Yamimaru said, Naruto nodding in agreement. After a few minutes Naruto put the key into the lock and twisted. The door slowly opened by a crack. As Naruto pushed the door open light flooded into the room. Standing ten feet from the door was a red headed woman, who was wearing standard anbu armor. She didn't wear a mask. Her face was one of the most beautiful things Naruto had ever seen.

"oba-san?" Yamimaru asked.

The woman just smiled.


	20. Meeting the family

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine, or I would be rich.

AN: Before you read the chapter, yes I have read the manga up to chapter 505 from about 490 something. That being said, I have two important facts about this story that need to be taken into consideration, mostly for this chapter and the last chapter. I started this story, and hand wrote a good majority of it before I started getting caught up in the story. I changed the original story a bit. Originally I was going to have more Konoha nin be jinchuuriki, and there are still going to be a few. But the key one's I will keep the same as in the actual story line. Two, I realize that some of the things will not make sense right off the bat, but keep with it. Everything will be explained in time.

"Oba-san," Yamimaru asked.

The woman just smiled.

"Who is she?" Naruto asked.

"That's my oba-san. Your mom," the dark haired Namikaze said. Naruto stared at the smiling woman. "Uzumaki Kushina."

"Mom?" Naruto asked, still not removing his eyes from the woman. The woman's smile grew a bit. Naruto flung himself at her, embracing her. The next thing anyone knew, he was crying into her shoulder.

"But how?" Yamimaru asked.

"I can answer that," a ghostly voice said. A figure slowly came into view behind the mother/son pair. He was a bit taller than Naruto, with the same blue eyes and blonde hair. He wore the standard jonin/chuunin apparel with a white sleeveless coat over it. The coat had red flames sewn on the bottom and the kanji for Yondaime Hokage on the back. His body seemed slightly transparent and emitted a dim blue glow.

"Otooji?" Yamimaru asked. "How?"

Naruto looked at the new arrival. "Yondaime Hokage."

"Hello Naruto, my son," the man smiled. "I'm so proud of you. Now for the explanation. After you were born, I told Kushina to stay at the hospital. Which of course she didn't listen. She came back here. After donning her ninja gear, she arrived at the courtyard. I of course had to fight Madara to get you back. He was looking for the kyuubi but couldn't find it. That's because I found a way to unseal it from your mother." Kushina smiled warmly at him. "We ended up becoming fast friends and he lived in a cave a few miles out. He always came to visit in human form. But something had enraged him and when I finally got to the scene, I did the only thing I could do. I sealed him away. I used the Shiki Fuuin method."

"Idiot," Yamimaru said.

"Yes, well... anyway. I found out how to stay here in the mortal realm to help you. It was a stroke of brilliance on my part. I used a technique I developed to separated my chakra and mind from my soul. When the shinigami took my soul, my mind attached to the only thing soul like about me. My chakra. So now I'm a pseudo soul. Pure chakra, like the bijuu. My chakra was anchored to Kushina. If she had stayed at the hospital, we wouldn't have been trapped in here for eighteen years."

"But how were you trapped here? And how did you survive, Kaa-san?" Naruto asked.

"We stored enough food in scrolls for an army for several years. When it's just one person, it lasts much longer," Kushina answered, rubbing Naruto's head.

"The estate has several seals that put it in lock down when ever the last, adult, Namikaze dies. If you hadn't survived, we would have been trapped here until Kushina died or they decided to tear down the building," Minato explained. "And one of the protective features is that nothing can see in here through chakra means. Not even the Byakugan or the hokage's crystal ball. But we could see out, using the same method. As a former hokage, I just had another crystal ball here just in case. So we were able to watch you growing up."

"If you're a ghost, of sorts, couldn't you have just gone through the walls and gotten help to get kaa-san out?" Naruto asked.

Minato had a blank look on his face for a moment. "I never thought of that..."

Kushina smiled sweetly at the former hokage. "Honey," she said letting go of Naruto. Her fist started glowing with chakra. Her facial features suddenly twisted in rage. "YOU ASSHOLE!" She punched the pseudo ghost with the chakra infused fist, scattering the image and chakra making it up.

Naruto watched, horrified, until the ghost pulled itself back together. It was rubbing the spot on the top of it's head where it was hit. "Itai... that hurt."

"I should do worse," the former anbu captain said threateningly. Involuntarily, Minato sheltered his groin area.

Kyuubi decided to let itself be known to Naruto. **"Hey kit, tell you tou-san I said hi."**

"Tou-san," Naruto said, drawing Minato's gaze. "Kyuubi says hi."

"And speaking of that, I want you to make a Kage bunshin using only Kyuubi's chakra," Minato said. Naruto had a confused look on his face. Minato sighed. "If you make a clone with only his chakra, he should be able to possess it and we can talk normally."

Naruto, after feeling the kyuubi smack himself with all nine of his tails, did as he was told.

"**Nice to see you two again,"** Kyuubi said as it took over the clone.

"KYU-KUN!" Kushina yelled, embracing the kyuubi, causing all the others to sweat drop.

"So what happened to make you attack Konoha?" Minato asked, ignoring his wife.

"**You may want to take a seat. This is not going to be pleasant," **Kyuubi said.

*****Flash back*

"_Namikaze Tayuya" an angry Kushina called out. "Behave yourself this instant!"_

"_**Ma ma Kushina-chan," **a human shaped and sized kyuubi said. **"She's just playing. It's what children do." **Kushina sighed. **"They grow up so fast, especially in the ninja world. Let her have her fun while she can."**_

"_Kyuubi's right," Minato said. "Besides, while she's playing, she's not in your hair while you're at home working."_

"_**Looks like she want's to play on the swings," **Kyuubi said. **"That's always fun for kids. An important part of childhood development."**_

"_If you think that's wise," Kushina said._

"_**Of course it is," **Kyuubi said. **"Isn't that right Minato?"**_

"_I'm sorry," Minato said, sounding very much like one of his students will in the future, "Did you say something."_

_As Kyuubi face faulted, Minato laughed. "Of course it's wise. It's practically necessary, oh prank mistress of Konoha."_

"Wait," Naruto said, interrupting Kyuubi. "I have a sister."

"**Just listen brat,"** Kyuubi said.

_The sun was setting over the trees that surrounded the village. Kyuubi said his goodbyes and left to his den. One there he changed into his kitsune form and laid down to sleep._

"_Wakey wakey, little kitsune," a serpentine voice called out. The fox opened his eyes to see Orochimaru holding a child. A familiar red haired child._

"_**Tayuya!" **the fox roared. **"Let her go!"**_

"_Madara sends his warmest. He should be in Konoha about now," the sennin said. With one hand he gripped the girls head and squeezed. She screamed loudly as he gradually increased the pressure. With a quick flex of his muscles, the girls head popped altogether, sending brain matter to scatter all over the cave._

"_**TAYUYA!" **Kyuubi bellowed. **"You are DEAD Hebi!"**_

_With that the fox started chasing the snake towards Konoha, Orochimaru dodging every last one of kyuubi's attacks._

*****Flash back end*

Kushina had broken down and was crying into Yamimaru's shoulder. Minato's face held a look that was half outrage, half despair. Even Yamimaru looked saddened.

Naruto's white, clenched fist was shaking as he literally squeezed the blood from his hands. "I'm going to kill him," the boy said in a hushed voice. "I'll hunt him down and kill him."

"Naruto?" Kushina asked.

"I will avenge my sister. I swear it," Naruto said.

Kyuubi looked at the boy. "When the time comes, you will have all of my power at your disposal. But you are not ready yet to tackle one of the sennin. You... no, all of us, need to rest for now. It's getting late anyway."

Everyone nodded. "Just take any room you fancy," Kushina told the boys. Everyone went off to sleep.

The next morning.

Some one knocked on the door. Naruto, who was sitting closest to the door anyway, answered.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I've decided to enroll our team in the chuunin exams," the sharingan wielder said with a smile, handing the entry paper to Naruto.

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, hugging the jonin. When he was done, he looked his sensei in the eye with a mischievous look in his eye. "Why don't you come in?"

Kakashi, of course, missed the look in Naruto's eye. "I don't see any reason why not."

"Kaa-san!" Naruto yelled into the kitchen. "We have company!"

_'Kaa-san?' _Kakashi thought.

"Well, don't be rude," a voice called back from the kitchen. "Bring him in"

Kakashi was certain that his ears were deceiving him. He followed Naruto into the kitchen. Standing in front of the stove in a black dress with a pink apron and a bowl and whisk mixing batter was none other than Uzumaki Kushina.

Kakashi was speechless, jaw dropped to the floor. Now for the real kicker. Minato materialized in front of the jonin with a quick "Boo!" Kakashi's mind gave out and he fell over unconscious.

"Well," Naruto said. "That could have gone better."

The jonin recovered quickly. "S-s-sensei?"

"In the fle-" Minato began the thought better of it. "In the Chakra!"

"Naruto, breakfast is ready," Kushina said. After she removed the apron and oven mitts, Kushina immediately latched on to the one eyed jonin. "Hisashiburi, Kakashi!"

"I just recognized a pattern," Minato said.

"Wha pattan?" Naruto said with his mouth full, earning an angry glare from his mother.

"A legend teaches legend teaches legend," Minato said. "Jiraiya of the sennin teaches me, I teach the copy-cat Kakashi, and Kakashi teaches you."

As Naruto turned back to his breakfast, he frowned. "Whats wrong," Kushina asked.

"There's no ramen," Naruto said.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Kushina wailed dramatically, the back ground going black with a few blue lines in the back ground. The standard anime depression background. "Not another one of my family lost to that poor excuse for food!"

Naruto started to back away from his mother. After another knock on the door, Naruto answered "I'll get it!" Naruto opened the door to see the hokage, the other two Yomi nin, the jonin sensei of all the rookie nine, the rookie nine, Haku, Zabuza, Anko, and the Ichiraku owners. "What are you all doing here?"

"House warming party!" Ino said loudly.

"Kaa-san!" Naruto called over his shoulder. "We may need more food!"

"Kaa-san?" Sakura asked. "I thought you were an orphan."

"I was until last night," Naruto grinned, causing the hokage to raise an eyebrow.

Kushina popped her head out of the door to the kitchen and started to count heads. Immediately several people passed out as if they had just seen a ghost. The list included the Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sarutobi Asuma the jonin instructor for team ten, Kurenai, and Teuchi.

They all bounced back fairly quickly. "Kushina? But how?" the hokage asked. "Everyone thought you were dead."

"Blame my dumb ass husband," Kushina said.

"Did someone mention me?" Minato asked, appearing beside Kushina.

"Y-y-y-y-yondaime hokage," kiba stuttered.

"Father of one Namikaze Naruto," the ghost smiled.

This caused everyone in the group to pass out.


	21. Good news?

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

AN: The chapters I have been typing lately have been longer than normal, I don't know how long that is going to last. One of my reviewers pointed out that Kushina is the ramen addict of Naruto's parents. In the main story, this may be so. I decided to have Minato be the one who craves it because in kishimoto's story, the only things Naruto gets from Minato are his looks and a few jutsu. And his nindo. But he needs something else as well. Besides, I like the distraught mother complex with the hyperactive personality.

A/N2: This chapter is just a filler chapter, so it may seem a little vague and incomplete. Some important things are going to happen, but like I said, it's only a filler.

The first of the large group to awaken was, surprisingly, the civilians. Teuchi and Ayame. Everyone followed soon after. After a bit of serious questioning by the Hokage, everyone started having a nice pleasant chat.

"Hey, Kushina," Teuchi said. "I haven't seen your daughter around for a long time. Was she trapped here with you?"

The Namikaze family's expressions darkened. Naruto turned to look at Anko. "Nee-chan, you said that there were giant snakes in training ground 44 right?"

"Yeah," Anko said, sharing a look with everyone not in the family.

"I'm going hunting," Naruto announced, grabbing his weapons and heading out.

"What's with him?" Sakura asked.

"Orochimaru of the Sannin killed his sister, causing the kyuubi attack," Minato said. "He's going to go kill something to relieve frustration.

_'Naruto-kun', _Hinata thought, worrying about her fiance.

In the Forest of Death

Naruto found the snakes rather quickly. They were also all gathered in one convenient location. As each snake lunged at him, he sliced it into halves with his katana. He chopped for hours before the snakes stopped coming. What few were left had long since fled, memorizing his scent. It was a precaution to stay away from him. The site they were at was also utterly abandoned for the scent of death was overwhelming their senses. Naruto had passed out. He didn't realize it, but the snakes blood had permanently dyed the blade of his katana red.

Some time later. Hyuuga compound.

"You wished to see me, Hyuuga-sama," Hinata said as she stepped into her father's study.

Hiashi sighed mentally. He couldn't wait for when he could actually change the general traditions of the clan. "Yes I did. I wish to move the date of your wedding forward," the man said. Hinata's eyes widened in surprise. "We are moving the ceremony to two weeks from now, the day before the chuunin exams."

When he didn't get an immediate response, he looked up to see Hinata wide eyed. As soon as they made eye contact, Hinata leapt at him with a cry of "THANK YOU TOU-SAN! THANK YOU!"

Naruto awoke in the hospital. He knew it was the hospital because no other place in Konoha had that much white with bright lights. For some reason even the metal objects in the room were painted white. It was giving him a head ache.

Around the room, sleeping in various chairs were people he knew. His parents, the Hokage, Anko, Sasuke, Haku, Zabuza, and his cousin and his cousin's team. He started to sit up, but there was a weight on his chest. Looking down, he saw Hinata draped over him.

"**So you're awake," **Kyuubi said.

_'Yeah, I guess I am,'_ Naruto thought.

"**I've done some research, and I've found some thing very interesting," **the fox told his host.

_'oh?' _Naruto thought.

"**What would you give to get your father's body back, as well as his soul?" **Kyuubi asked.

"NANI?" Naruto yelled out loud.

Everyone woke up at the loud noise, jumping out of their respective chairs with weapons drawn. A few medic nin and nurses burst into the room with chakra scalpels flaring.

Naruto and Kyuubi sweat dropped.

"False alarm," the Hokage said, causing everyone to settle down.

"So what was all the yelling about?" Minato asked.

"Well, Kyuubi just said that he found a way to get your body back..." Naruto began.

"Well..." Minato thought

"HE'LL DO IT!" Kushina blurted out, surprising everyone. When everyone looked at her she shrugged. "Fingers are only satisfying for so long." Everyone sweat dropped. Except for Naruto, who was trying desperately to get the image out of his head, screaming about the horror.

"How?" Minato said. Naruto shrugged, causing everyone to face fault. "How do you not know?"

"Kyuubi found out, but before he could tell me," Naruto explained, "every one woke up ready to kill something."

"Oh," Kushina said.

Hinata hugged Naruto closer and fell asleep on top of him.

"Kawaii!" Kushina yelled, some how not waking Hinata. She pulled out a camera and started snapping pictures.

Naruto turned his head to look at his father. "Does she do this often?"

"Yeah she do-"

"HELL YEAH I DO! TTEBANE!" Kushina yelled, snapping more pictures.

Naruto shook his head. He formed a hand seal. His fingers were crossed. Minato, realizing what he was doing chuckled. After a moment Kushina did too. She readied her camera.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Naruto called, using only the kyuubi's chakra.

The Naruto that formed was more feral looking. It's fingers were claw like and the whisker marks were wider. It raised its head and its eyes snapped open. They were blood red with slit pupils.

"**Domo miina. Genki des ka?" **Kyuubi greeted.

Just about everyone in the room tried to have a heart attack. In their panicking, they failed to notice the Namikaze family literally rolling around laughing. Except for Hinata. She was awoken by the rolling.

"Naruto-kun?" she asked. She looked around to see everyone staring dangerously at the Naruto clone in the center of the room.

"**Domo, Hinata," **Kyuubi greeted again.

"Kyuubi-kun!" Hinata cried out happily, practically tackling him to floor. Apart from the one incident right after the Uchiha massacre, Kyuubi actually got along very well with Naruto and Hinata. Hinata was actually happy to actually see him in person again.

The crowd in the room (Minus the Namikaze) were staring at Hinata horrified of what might happen to her.

"Hinata-chan," Naruto said. "You might want to get off of him. He can't breathe. If you don't get off He'll" Poof "disappear."

"Gomen," Hinata said, not really meaning it.

Naruto sighed and re-summoned kyuubi.

"**No strangling me this time," **Kyuubi said, hiding behind Naruto.

"Kyuubi, I have a question," Naruto said.

"**Hmm?" **the fox asked.

"If I have the fox summoning contract, why didn't I just summon you normally?" Naruto asked.

"**Two very good reasons," **Kyuubi said. **"Reason one: The seal prevents it from happening." **Naruto nodded understandingly, as everyone looked on slightly confused. **"Reason two: What would happen if I were to suddenly appear in the middle of Konoha as a giant nine tailed fox?"**

"People would panic and start trying to attack you..." Naruto answered. "Oh, right."

"So Naruto said that you found a way to get my body back," Minato said. "Care to explain?"

"**Oh all right." **kyuubi said. **"It's really very simple. You use a ritual to use the power of Nanabi no Suzaku."**

"As in?" Naruto asked.

"**Ask emo boy wonder over there," **Kyuubi asked, pointing at Sasuke.

"Me?" Sasuke asked. "What do I have to do with this?"

"You just so happen to be the host of one of the gentle bijuu," Zabuza said.

"How?" the Uchiha asked.

Zabuza sighed. "There are several bijuu that instead of rampaging and being sealed by a human into something or some one, will actually choose to seal themselves into a host willingly. Mostly humans who either have a pure heart, or ones that have gone through a traumatizing event and come out the better for it."

There was a moment of awkward silence before Naruto said, "I can't believe that Sasuke is pure of heart."

"What makes you say that?" Kushina asked.

"Well, he went through THAT night, and he's more of asshole than ever," Naruto reasoned.

"Naruto, shut up," Sasuke said.

"Naruto, you need to watch your language," Kushina said, approaching Naruto. She grabbed him by the ear and marched to the bathroom. "And as a warning, I'm going to wash your mouth out with soap."

Everyone in the room looked on in pity as Naruto was dragged to his doom. They all had experienced that growing up (except for Hinata, her being the good girl that she is), and they didn't envy him one bit.

"Isn't he eighteen?" Hinata asked.

"Yes," Sasuke said.

"Then why..." she trailed off.

"It's something she was always meaning to do, after she read his lips to see him swearing so much growing up. She was just reminded," Minato said.

"If you were reading lips then that means you didn't here any thing?" Hinata asked.

"No," Minato answered.

"Then you don't know about Naruto and my..." the heiress trailed off.

"About your what?" Kushina asked from the bathroom door. In one hand she held a bar of soap, in the other a gagging Naruto.

"Naruto," Hinata said. "Tou-san moved the ceremony to the day before the exams."

Naruto's head shot up. "So soon?" Hinata nodded. "That's great!"

"What's going on here?" Kushina asked, getting annoyed.

"Naruto and Hinata are betrothed," Hiruzen said. "They will, now, be getting married before the chuunin exams."

Kushina squealed. "They grow up so fast," she cried, while hugging Naruto tightly, effectively choking him and almost breaking his back.

"**The resurrection ceremony has to take place on a full moon," **Kyuubi said. **"That will be the two days before when you plan to set the wedding."**

"That means that you'll be able to attend in a real body," Naruto said excitedly while looking at his dad.

"Yes," Hiruzen said. "Now, I believe that there is a council meeting with my name on it..." the hokage vanished.

"Tou-san," Naruto asked mischievously, "how do feel about giving half the council a heart attack?"


	22. The council and meeting the suna nin

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

AN: Sorry for the long break, but we got busy suddenly. And someone keeps setting off the fire alarm.

In the Konoha council chambers.

The council was divided into two parts. The shinobi council who oversaw the ninja portion of the village's affairs, and the civilian side who controlled the civilian things such as shops and general prices. For the most part the shinobi side was with Naruto, while most of the civilian side was against him. Though the majority of the council was with Sasuke. (Just a description so you know where everyone stands.)

The hokage cleared his throat to gain the attention of everyone in the room. When it didn't work, he used a special jutsu that created the sound of, if not the actual force of, an explosion. This gained everyone's attention. He opened his mouth to speak when the door burst open, interrupting him.

Standing in the doorway were Naruto and Sasuke. The two anbu guards were very determinedly looking the other way.

"Sorry we're late," Sasuke said.

"What is the meaning of this?" demanded one of the civilian council members.

"As the last of my clan, I am technically clan head, and thus entitled to a seat on the council," Sasuke said calmly.

"We weren't talking about you, Sasuke-kun," another civilian councilor, a female, said sweetly. "We were talking about that _boy_."

"There are several things you need to know," Naruto said with a smile. "First, I am a direct descendent of the Uzumaki clan, therefore I to have a seat on the council. My mom, however is alive so that seat is hers. Unfortunately, she is busy trying to not kill every last one of you. So I'm here instead." The council sat dumbstruck. "And, I can prove I'm not Kyuubi."

"Then do so," one of the shinobi councilors sneered. He obviously was one of the ones who was against Naruto.

"With pleasure," Naruto said with a sadistic grin. He put his hands together is a cross seal and called out "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

After a blinding burst of red chakra, which he had done on purpose, there a a more feral looking Naruto beside him. **"Naruto, what is the meaning of this?"**

The boy sighed. "Well, I told the council that I wasn't you, and that I could prove it. One of the councilors told me to do so, so I did."

The Kyuubi's killer intent spiked dangerously, informing the council that this was indeed kyuubi. Most of the shinobi council, well, all of them actually, were cowering in their seat. The civilian council actually soiled themselves. **"That's ALL you called me for?" **the fox roared. Naruto nodded, trying to keep the smile off of his face. And succeeding. **"Okay," **kyuubi smiled happily. **"See you later kit."**

The council was even more terrified than before, now believing that Kyuubi was in fact bipolar. They didn't know that he was in on a massive plot against the council. Nothing deadly, unless they died of a heart attack.

"That boy just summoned the fox! Kill him!" the councilor who had yelled at him earlier cried out.

"Oh, shut up," Sasuke said. "You're an embarrassment to this village."

"Kisama!" the councilor hissed at Sasuke.

"Oji-san, what's the punishment of threatening a shinobi of the village?" Naruto asked.

"Usually banishment," Hiruzen said thoughtfully.

The councilor paled. He was going to get down and beg.

"What about threatening the heir of no less than different clans?" Naruto asked.

The Hokage, while smiling inside, had a grave look on his face. "Death."

"W-w-what other clan are you from?" the councilor asked.

"Now for the kicker," Naruto said to himself. He smiled and spoke louder. "I am the son of none other than Namikaze Minato, the yondaime Hokage."

"You lie," one of the other shinobi councilors yelled.

"No," Hiashi said. "I can attest to him in fact being Minato's son."

"As can I," the Hokage said. "In fact, I have blood tests and his birth certificate in my office."

"And so can he," Naruto said pointing above the table as a light blue glow formed. The council stared at it amazed. It slowly gained shape, appearing in a human form before the color rushed in to show a very pissed off Yondaime.

"You all have much explaining to do." the council, at least the half against Naruto, started to quake visibly. After all, the yondaime was the one who actually stopped the kyuubi. He was the man who could take out entire armies single handedly. And he was able to survive a marriage with Uzumaki Kushina. Now he was angry at them. "At my death I asked you all to treat my son as a hero. What did you do? You treated him as a demon! I am ashamed of you for what you have done to my son."

"It's just a genjutsu," Haruno Makata shrieked. Naruto could now see where Sakura got her voice from.

The Hokage smiled to himself before standing and approaching Minato. His hands formed the seal to dispel genjutsu. "Kai." Nothing happened. "Happy now, Haruno-san?"

The council was getting close to breaking point. Then Naruto did something that both made it better and worse. "Tou-san, tell them why the kyuubi attacked."

"Very well. As you all know, I had a daughter named Tayuya. On the day that Naruto was born, the traitor, Orochimaru kidnapped her. My guess was that he was intending to provoke the Kyuubi for some time. You see, the kyuubi had made himself the personal protector of my family." the council stood...sat, stunned. "Orochimaru took my daughter to Kyuubi and killed her in front of him. When Kyuubi chased him down, he fled towards Konoha. When he was close enough, Uchiha Madara appeared before him and took over him using the sharingan. You know the rest."

After several moments, one of the shinobi female councilors stood. She approached Naruto and knelt before him. "Naruto-san, I would like to apologize. Despite not taking part in the actual assaults to your person, I ignored them and yourself. Gomen." When Naruto looked, it was none other than Inuzuka Tsume, Kiba's mother.

"You are forgiven," Naruto said.

"Arigato," the woman smiled.

"I have news to give out," Hiashi said. "Good news for once." The councilors looked at him in wonder. "In two weeks from now, the day before the chuunin exams, which all of this years graduating class will take part in, my eldest daughter Hinata is to be wed."

"That is good news indeed," Akimichi Chouza said cheerfully.

"Troublesome, but good," Nara Shikaku said.

"So, who is the lucky groom?" Yamanaka Inoichi asked.

"Why, none other than Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto," the Hyuuga head said with a rare smile.

Everyone in the room save the few who already knew about the wedding, yelled out "NANI?"

"We signed the paper work about a month ago," Naruto said, his face red enough to actually match Hinata's blushes. "On behalf of my clans, I invite each and every one of you and your families."

Sasuke of course had his own news. "I, Uchiha Sasuke, shall also be wed on the same day. The bride is one Momochi Haku, adopted daughter of Momochi Zabuza."

Naruto was the only, besides the engaged pair, to know about this. The information provided was enough to finally overwhelm the council. They all passed out. "That was... unexpected," Naruto said.

"You're telling me," Sasuke said.

"I gotta go find Hinata-chan," Naruto said. "Ja!" And he was gone.

Sasuke sighed. "Anbu, I think the councilors need some help getting home."

"Right away Uchiha-sama," one of the anbu, who had neko mask, said.

With Hinata

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto yelled, running up.

"Naruto-kun." Hinata smiled happily. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better, arigato," the boy said with a smile.

"What did you do that put you in the hospital?" the heiress asked.

"Exhaustion. I went into the forest to relieve my anger, and when I was finished killing snakes I was totally exhausted," Naruto said.

"So you went and killed innocent snakes that had done nothing to you?" the girl asked in a slightly angry and disappointed tone. "How is that any different than what the villagers did to you?"

Naruto realized she was right. One bad apple doesn't ruin the bunch, nor does one bad snake. "I...gomen," Naruto said, head down in shame. "I didn't realize...I didn't think..."

"It's okay Naruto-kun," Hinata said comfortingly. She wrapped her arms around Naruto. "You didn't know, now you do. Don't do it again."

Naruto nodded slowly.

"Did anything interesting happen at the council?" Hinata asked him.

Naruto instantly brightened up. "Oh yeah! First me and Sasuke..." he proceeded to tell her everything that happened. (I don't feel like summarizing it right now.) "And then Sasuke let the council know that he's going to be getting married to!"

"That's wonderful," Hinata said. She didn't know about Sasuke's engagement.

"Then all of the councilors passed out. Even tou-san and Oji-san passed out," Naruto said, causing Hinata to giggle. "But we never got to tell them about the plan to get tou-san's body back."

He leaned in to kiss her when he noticed something. "Konohamaru, rocks aren't square."

"Heh, you caught me," the boy said. The box poofed away to reveal the Konohamaru corp. "That's why you're the boss. Hey, let's play ninja!"

"What do you say, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Let's do it," she smiled.

"Alright!" Konohamaru yelled as his group ran around the corner. There was a small thud like a child falling on the ground.

"Hey, you okay kid?" some one asked. Naruto recognized the voice.

Naruto ran around the corner. He recognized the two people standing there. "Kankuro? Temari?"

"Hey Naruto," the boy in the black suit greeted.

"What's going on?" the blonde girl asked.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, wandering around the corner.

"Hey Hinata, come over here," Naruto said. "I would like you to meet Kankuro and Temari. Guys, this is Hyuuga Hinata, my fiance."

"Nani?" the two suna nin yelled.

"Hey where's Gaara?" Naruto asked.

"Boo." a nearly emotionless voice said behind him. He spun a little to quickly and managed to hit Gaara before the sand appeared. Gaara had red hair and teal eyes. On his forehead, above his left eye, was the Kanji for love.

"Gomen, Gaara," Naruto apologized.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata asked, "how do you know them?"

"I met them when the Uchiha clan decided to visit suna one year," Naruto said. (Remember, in this story Naruto was adopted by the Uchiha clan at roughly six. No genin graduated the academy until they were eighteen. The Uchiha massacre happened when Naruto was about thirteen. That gives him seven years to have done anything with the Uchiha clan.)

Flash back

"_We're going to Suna no Sato to get a few items," Fugaku told the three children around him._

"_Does that mean we're going out of Hi no Kuni?" Sasuke asked._

"_Yes, otouto," Itachi said. He was slightly annoyed by his younger brothers questions, but that's how younger brothers were._

"_Cool!" Naruto shouted, drawing smiles from the adults._

_In suna, three days later_

"_Wow," Naruto said as he looked up at the two massive cliffs on either side of the gate. _

"_It is rather impressive, tou-san," Itachi said with a smile._

"_When we get to the hotel, you children can go play. But don't go too far," Mikoto told the kids._

"_Yes Kaa-san," both Naruto and Sasuke said._

_After the kids got to go play they headed to the park they had glimpsed at on their way through town. Mostly it was a desert version of Konoha's park. Sitting there, by himself, was a red headed boy. He looked lonely._

"_Hey, you wanna play with us?" Naruto asked the boy._

_The boy looked up. He had never seen these two kids around the village before._

"_Who are you?" he asked._

"_I'm Naruto. I'm from Konoha, and I'm going to be the best Hokage ever! Dattebayo!" the blonde said enthusiastically._

"_I'm Uchiha Sasuke. I'm from Konoha as well. Naruto is my adoptive brother, but he chose to keep his family name," Sasuke said. "What's you name?"_

"_I'm Gaara. Sabaku no Gaara, son of the Kazekage," the red head said._

"_That's cool!" Naruto said. "What do you want to play?"_

"_How about we play catch?" Sasuke said, pulling out a ball. Both Naruto and Gaara were wondering where it had come from._

"_Okay," Gaara said._

_Sasuke tossed the ball to Naruto. Because the two were ninja in training, this mean he lobbed it as high and hard as he could. Naruto ran and jumped onto the side of a building long enough to force himself to rocket off and catch the ball. He did a couple of flips and landed, tossing the ball to Gaara. Before Gaara could think to move his hand, the sand caught the ball. As the sand retreated, dropping the ball, Gaara away from the kids with tears in his eyes._

"_That was so Cool!" Naruto yelled. It was starting to get on Sasuke's nerves._

_Gaara was didn't hear it though. He was trying not to let his fear and sorrow over take him._

"_Gaara, are you okay,"Naruto asked, placing a hand on his shoulder._

"_What?" Gaara asked. "Y-you're not afraid?"_

"_As the baka here said, that was pretty cool," Sasuke said. The two Konoha boys grinned at Gaara._

"_What do you think you are doing with that thing?" a suna villager shouted. He grabbed Naruto and Sasuke and dragged them back. "Stay away from him. He's a demon!"_

_Gaara started to look away again._

_Naruto shrugged out of the adults grip. "You know, I don't like people like you. Have you even tried to get to know the boy, HUH?" The adult looked at the boy in astonishment, as Sasuke also got away. "I'm treated the exact same way in my village, and you know what?" the villager shook his head. "I don't know why, but I'm going to be hokage and everyone will respect me! I don't care what you say about Gaara, he's my friend and I always protect my friends."_

_The villager was about to hit the insolent kid but Sasuke stepped in the way. "If you want to hurt either my brother or my friend, you'll have to go through me first."_

"_And me," Naruto said, moving to stand beside Sasuke._

"_Fine," the villager spat, raising his fist._

_Just as he was about to hit the boys, a wall of sand stopped his blow. A fist of the same material hit the man and sent him flying back. "No one hurts my friends," Gaara said with a look of serious determination on his face._

_The villager growled and charged the trio again. He was stopped by a massive killer intent. _

"_WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TO MY SON(S)?" two different men yelled while running into the park. Fugaku and a man in light blue and white kage robes stopped in front of the boys. Just behind the two men were two kids and a shinobi. _

"_Gaara are you okay?" the shinobi asked._

"_I'm fine Yamasharu-otooji," the red head said._

"_Kazekage-sama," Fugaku asked. "What is the punishment for assault on a villager and a villages allies?"_

"_I believe it's either banishment or death," the man in kage robes said. "Yamasharu-san, arrest this man. We'll sentence him later."_

"_Hai, Kazekage-sama," the man said._

"_And Yamasharu," the kazekage said._

"_Hai, Kazekage-sama?" the shinobi asked._

"_We need to have a talk later," the kazekage said._

"_Hai," the shinobi said before disappearing with the villager._

_Fugaku turned to the two kids he had raised. "Boys," he said in a stern tone. They met his gaze unflinching. His features softened considerably. "I'm proud of you two. Protecting your nakama, even if you only just met them is a sure sign that you have inherited the will of fire."_

"_So I see you have some new friends Gaara," the kazekage said._

"_Hai, otou-san," Gaara said._

"_Well, I'm sure that you will show them around the village," the kazekage said. _

"_Hai," Gaara said in a cute child-like determination._

"_Temari, Kankuro, I want you two to go with Gaara and his new friends," the kazekage said to the other two children._

"_Hai, tou-san," the two said simultaneously._

_As Fugaku and the kazekage walked away, talking quietly, the two kids turned to their brother and his friends. _

"_I'm Temari," the blonde girl said._

"_I'm Kankuro," the boy said. _

"_I'm Sasuke and this is Naruto," the Uchiha said._

"_So, let's go," Gaara said with a smile._

_The kids ended up playing together for the rest of the week, until the Uchiha left to go back to Konoha._

Flashback end

"So how's it been?" Naruto asked.

"It's gone great," Gaara said. "We're a genin team now."

"So you're here for the chunin exams then," Hinata said.

"That's right," Temari said with a smile.

"So how would you like to come to our wedding then?" Naruto asked.

"We would be thrilled," Temari said with a girlish squeal.

Gaara and Kankuro sighed.

Temari grabbed Hinata by the arm, chatting rapidly, walking away.

"Hey Gaara, want to go grab some ramen?" Naruto asked.

Gaara then made the biggest mistake of his life. "What's ramen?"


	23. What's ramen?

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto. And probably Hinata, I mean she owns everything Naruto. I think I found her secret Naruto shrine one day. (Hinata, who was spying on the author faints at having her secrets revealed.)

AN: So, I decided to update today. It's strange, I ask for reviews but don't get them. I guess I should get my other stories caught up. I am going to take a moment to thank my most loyal reviewers: Choco-Rose (my unofficial imouto), Hektols, EbonPurlight, and Uzumaki Ricky. Thank you for the work. Any one else actually reading this who has not done so, read Hektols' story A New Chance. Thank you.

"What's ramen?"

Naruto stood dumbfounded. Gaara, one of his best friends in the history his life (They were pen pals as well), had never tasted the the perfection that was ramen. He didn't even know what it was.

"Gaara, we're going to a ramen stand. NOW!" Naruto practically ordered his friend. He grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him to Ichiraku's.

"Teuchi-sama!" Naruto yelled when they arrived.

Everyone froze. The only time Naruto EVER called anyone sama, besides Hiashi, it was an indicator of three things. One, he was royally pissed. Two, it was an emergency. Three, well, he hadn't found a third reason yet.

"We have a code red thirty two," Naruto continued.

Teuchi's eyes widened. "Sit him on seat five," the old man said. "Ayame! Code Red Thirty Two! Break out the special seasonings!"

"Roger!" the brunette called from the back of the building.

In the time that Naruto began eating at Ichiraku's, the ramen stand had actually become a small restaurant, the building changing to reflect it's new status. While ramen was still the primary dish, it was not exclusively so. The owners agreed with Naruto on one thing, besides that he needed ramen to live. If they ever got Hiashi to go to the stand, the place would soon be a world class restaurant. Which brings Naruto to now.

"Naruto," Teuchi called. "It's time to bring in the Lord."

"On it," Naruto yelled. He picked up a hand held radio and pressed the talk button. "Hinata, Operation Lord of Ramen is now in effect. Use any means necessary to complete, over!"

"/Roger/" Hinata's voice echoed over the radio.

With Hinata

The heiress burst into her fathers study, surprising everyone there. She grabbed the startled man's wrist and started dragging him out of the Hyuuga compound.

"Hinata, what is the meaning of this?" Hiashi demanded.

Hinata didn't answer him. She turned to his councilors. "Cancel all of my father's remaining appointments for the day," she ordered in a serious tone.

"Hai, Hinata-sama" the Hyuuga elders said.

"What are you doing, that was The Daimyo in their," Hiashi hissed. He almost immediately wished he hadn't said that.

Hinata turned around and rushed back to the mansion, grabbed the daimyo's wrist and ran full sprint to Ichiraku's.

At the Restaurant

Teuchi, Ayame, and several Naruto clones were frantically working when Hinata barreled in with her two 'guests.' Teuchi looked up to see their arrival. "Place them in seats six ans seven," the man ordered. "Ayame, fire up boilers two and three! Naruto, eight more pounds of noodles!"

The people in question released a chorus of 'hai's' and rushed to their tasks. The ramen was close to completion.

"Naruto, bowls and chopsticks! Ayame, prepare to receive!" Teuchi shouted. Trusting his ninja companion, he tossed the noodles over his head, somehow evading the scalding hot water droplets the noodles released.

Naruto went into over drive, juggling the three bowls with skill and precision. He managed to divide the noodles properly into even sizes while also keeping all the broth with the noodles. He quickly handed off the bowls to Ayame, who in turn swiftly deposited them before their stunned recipients.

Teuchi looked up to see the three high ranking individuals staring at the deliciousness before them. "Eat. Now," he ordered in a deathly tone. They didn't know why, they just obeyed. They each carefully placed the first mouthful in their mouths. All of them froze. Then, casting aside all of their lordly etiquette, they began to ravenously devour the perfection before them.

The original Naruto slumped against a wall in exhaustion as his clones dispelled. He looked around the small restaurant for the first time since arriving. It was nearly full. The guests included his cousin, his team, his cousins team, the rest of the rookie nine, all of the jonin sensei, the hokage, and a ninja that none of them had seen before.

The hokage was staring at the man to Hiashi's left. "Hinata-san, is that the fire daimyo?" he asked incredulously.

Hinata merely nodded.

Despite being the highest ranking individual in the room, the daimyo was the first to finish his meal. He looked up sharply at Teuchi. "You seem familiar," he said to the chef. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"That is a high possibility, Daimyo-sama," Teuchi said proudly. "I was one of the elite samurai guards for your father twenty years ago. Honorably discharged."

"I see. What is your name?" the lord asked, while all of the shinobi were staring at the old man in the chef's hat.

"Ichiraku Teuchi," he answered.

"THE Ichiraku Teuchi?" the daimyo asked. "The man who single handedly fought off two hundred of enemy samurai and at least twenty ninja during the coup de'tat?"

"The rumors are greatly exaggerated, but yes," the old man said humbly.

"Ichiraku Teuchi, I will hereby establish a government budget to this restaurant, to help it flourish into a facility worthy of the shogun and his court. He will be in the land of fire within the next six months. I expect you to have this place looking perfect. Do you understand me?" the daimyo declared.

"Hai, daimyo-sama," Teuchi said.

"Don't worry," Naruto proclaimed. "We'll have it finished in two months, big nose."

Everyone stared horrified at Naruto. He might as well have signed his own death warrant. He just insulted the daimyo in public. In his own shinobi village.

"No one has ever talked to me like that before," the daimyo said dangerously. "Tell me something. Is my nose really that big?"

"It's huge," Naruto said, oblivious to his peril.

"Hmm," the daimyo said. Everyone tensed, preparing for the worst. "I thank you for your honesty, ninja-san. Now I know why everyone looks at me strangely. I shall reward you with this." He handed Naruto a scroll. "I believe that will be of use to you. Might I have the pleasure of knowing your name?"

"Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, future hokage of Konoha!" Naruto said loudly. "Dattebayo!"

"Namikaze-san, I hereby grant you the position of shinobi yojimbo to the my person," the daimyo said. "For when you're actually in the capital, of course."

"I thank you for the honor," Naruto said, showing some sort of manners.

"Well, I should be going now," the daimyo said. "Hiashi, we will continue our discussion tomorrow. Ja ne, miina."

As the lord of Hi no Kuni strode out of the small eatery, everyone directed their gaze to Naruto. Naruto took a moment to see who all was in the building. Besides the 'crew' and guests, there was the rest of the rookie nine, team guy, the jonin sensei for all the teams, the hokage, the hokage's personal advisers, Danzo and an unfamiliar ninja that was with Danzo Out of everyone in the building, Naruto was most interested in the unknown ninja.

"Who are you," he asked.

The ninja looked at Danzo, who nodded, before answering. "My name is Sai, I'm in anbu." (I was going to introduce Sai later, but I think Sai is a total bad ass, as evidenced by his fight scenes in Naruto shippuden movie 2: bonds. And again in Naruto shippuden three: Inheritors of the will of fire.)

"I see," the blonde said. "Why don't we go spar, so I can really get to know you?"

Sai looked over at Danzo who considered for a moment. "Go ahead Sai."

Naruto lead Sai out of the building and away from the restaurant.

"Did all of that just happen?" Ino asked.

"Yeah, I think it did," Sakura answered.

"I really *munch* envy Naruto right now," Choji said.

"Mendokusei," Shikamaru sighed.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered.

"Well, it's about time something went right for him," Sasuke said, earning nods of agreement from the jonin sensei. (Japanese does not have plurals. It is mostly inferred. The closest thing to a plural is adding the word tachi after the Japanese words for either I, You, they(male), or they(female).)

"Did he say he was going to spar with that Sai guy?" Kiba asked. His puppy gave a quick bark. "Come on Akamaru, we have to go watch this." He left the restaurant in a hurry.

"Gai-sensei," Lee said. "Can we go watch the spar as well?"

"YOSH!" Gai yelled. "LET US GO MY YOUTHFUL STUDENTS! WE MUST WATCH THE FLAMES OF NARUTO'S YOUTH!"

Neji and Tenten groaned as their sensei and team mate picked them up and rushed out after Kiba.

Sarutobi turned to Teuchi. "What's this I hear of you being a former samurai?"

"Sakura-san, we should probably go check on our team mate," Shino said, and both him and Sakura left.

"Sasuke, maybe we should go watch Naruto-kun," Hinata said. Sasuke nodded and bolted for the door. He stopped as Haku and Zabuza entered.

"What's the rush?" the demon of the mist asked.

Neither of Naruto's team mates answered. They just grabbed the pairs wrists and dragged them out of the building after Naruto.

"Hiruzen, I don't know about you, but I want to see this match," Koharu said.

Koharu and Homura were Hiruzen's team mates when he was a genin. Danzo was on another team, but was close to Hiruzen all the same. It wasn't until they received leadership that they started disagreeing on things. (No, I'm not going to make Danzo evil in this story. I like the idea of a good Danzo. Although, the real Danzo needs to die {If you are reading the manga, he already has})

"I agree with Koharu," Homura said.

"I think this would be an excellent time to see our genin in action," the hokage said.

Gaara decided to follow the hokage. On the way they ran into his brother and sister, who tagged along. As they found their way to the clearing, more people decided to follow. Eventually most of the village had showed up to watch the fight.

When they arrived, Naruto and Sai were still going through warm up stretches. Naruto had shed his vest and trench coat to allow for freedom of movement. At that moment he felt a shiver go down his spine. It was at the moment he removed the articles of clothing that the Naruto Fan Club was born. It would be stemmed a few hours later by Hinata announcing to the entire village that Naruto was hers and that they had a set wedding. The councilors had, by some chance, not yet gotten word out to the rest of the village. (Some chance? Naruto only just left the council chambers a couple of hours before his spar.)

In the middle of the stretching, Minato's ghost in disguise and Kushina in full anbu armor arrived. They made their way to the hokage. "What's going on here?"

"Your son asked that boy to spar," Hiruzen said. "We followed him out here, and the village followed me."

Kushina's eyes lit up. "I have 60,000 ryo on the blonde!" she cried out.

A woman with blonde hair, wearing a green coat stepped up. "I'll take that bet," she said.

A brunette that was following the blonde decided to speak up. "Tsunade-sama, we don't have that kind of money right now."

"Dammit, Shizune, why do have to ruin my fun," Tsunade asked.

A tall man with long white hair strode into the field. He wore a green ninja suit with a red robe over it. On his back was a giant scroll. "I guess with all these people here, you guys will need a referee," he grinned.

Naruto looked at Sai and nodded. The dark haired boy nodded back. "All right old man, you can ref."

"Are both sides ready?" the man asked.

In the crowd people were starting to whisper about the old man. A good number of people recognized him. Hiruzen was doing many double takes. He had seen two of his pupils, and was hoping not to see the last one.

"Ready Sai?" Naruto asked.

"Hai," the young adult replied almost emotionlessly.

The white haired man raised his hand. With a fluid motion, he sliced downward with a cry of, "Hajime!"


	24. A Spar

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any affiliated characters.

AN: Sorry for the long wait. Internet went out. So...let's continue.

The old man sliced his hand through the air in a downward sweep. "Hajime!"

Naruto charged at his opponent, hands forming a cross shaped hand seal. "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Thirty Narutos appeared with a puff of smoke. They all continued on their path to Sai.

The dark haired boy leapt over the original Naruto, using the blondes shoulders as leverage. He spun in the air and brought his feet to the jinchuuriki's back and sprung off, overbalancing the boy. Naruto fell to the ground while Sai spun in the air. The emoish boy pulled out a scroll and a paint brush. With a few deft movements he finished his work. He formed the half ram seal.

"Ninpo: Chouju Giga," he said calmly. Two lions burst out of the page.

"Kuso," Naruto swore under his breath as he dodged the first lions attack. He bit his thumb and slammed it onto the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Two foxes appeared between him and the lions. One was a familiar yellow one while the other was a pure black one.

"What's up Naruto?" Youkou asked.

"What's with these lions?" the black fox asked. "They look strange."

"Youkou, Yorui," Naruto said. "We're in the middle of a spar. I want you to take the lions while I take that guy over there."

"hai," both foxes said in unison, before leaping at the art lions.

Naruto flashed through a few hand seals. "Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!"

A massive, slightly unstable water dragon rose up from the lake, scaring quite a few of the villagers.

Elsewhere in Konoha

"Haku," Zabuza called. "Someone is using a water technique in a fight. We're going."

"Hai, tou-san," Haku said following Zabuza to where the fight was.

Back at the spar

The water dragon crashed down on Sai, only for him to explode into ink. Following some sixth sense, Naruto drew his katana and spun in a defensive position. Sai's tanto slammed into Naruto's blade, cracking it.

_'This can't be good,' _Naruto thought. He forced Sai's weapon away from him, but that caused the dagger to finish cutting through the katana.

"Gomen, Naruto-san," Sai apologized. "Anbu weapons are made of a stronger material than most weapons. I didn't mean to do that."

"It's alright, I'll just get another one later," Naruto said with a grin as he drew his two ninjato. He started attacking Sai with a quick flurry.

Sai expertly dodged or blocked each attack. He threw a kunai at Naruto, who side stepped it. He grinned at Sai, only for the apparently anbu level ninja to smirk.

"Ninpo: Ink Shot." A massive blob of ink hit Naruto at high speeds, knocking him down.

The blonde stood back up. "Not too bad," he grinned. He did a few more seals. "Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!" A large ball of fire sped towards Sai.

The dark haired boy's eyes widened. He jumped up as high as he could. On his way down he brought his tanto to bear. Naruto through both of his ninjato up into an X. The tanto sliced through the weapons as if they were paper. The blonde jumped back, discarding the useless weapons.

"Chikusho!" He swore loudly, pulling out a kunai.

Sai pulled out his scroll again. A few quick movements and he was finished. "Ninpo: Chouju Giga."

A massive beast, most likely a dragon, burst out of the page. Naruto couldn't identify it. It seemed like a dragon, but it wasn't serpentine. It had a pair of large wings with a thick body and blocky frame. It could be a dragon, but he wasn't sure. (It's a western dragon, Naruto has only seen eastern dragons. Even then only in books and movies.)

Sai jumped on top of the dragon's head.

"I think it's about time to end this match, Naruto-san," Sai said.

"Yosh," Naruto said. He flashed through some unfamiliar hand seals. "Goukaton: Kitsune Hi Arashi!"

A blood red flame rose around him, forming a fox's head. Then, it burst forward, right at the dragon. Sai's eyes widened yet again and he jumped into the only place he could. The lake.

"I win," Naruto said as Sai surfaced. "Suiton: Water Prison Jutsu."

Sai, and a large bubble of water, rose from the lake. Sai struggled a bit before realizing he couldn't move. "I yield," he said.

The old man smiled. "Winner: Uzumaki-"

"Namikaze," Naruto corrected before he finished. The entire village stared at him. "Nani? Do I have something on my face?"

"I can vouch that he is indeed a Namikaze," Hiruzen said walking forward as Naruto released the water prison technique.

"But," one of the villagers said, "there was only one Namikaze in the village. The-"

"Exactly," Hiashi said as he too strode forward.

Whatever else was said was lost on the two boys still on the water. They had depleted a good amount of chakra. They were dangerously close to chakra exhaustion, and it didn't help that they were using water walking.

"Hey Sai?" Naruto asked a little tired.

"Hmm?" the anbu answered.

"Do you feel like you're about to pass out?" Naruto asked.

Sai made an affirmative grunt. Naruto gave a small chuckle and both boys fell over at the same time.

Back on shore

The entire village was staring stunned as the ghost of Minato was berating them. There were more than few huddled into an emo ball.

Hinata decided to look up just in time to see to two boys fall over and sink into the water. "NARUTO-KUN!"

The Hyuuga heiress jumped into the lake after the unconscious boys. Unfortunately, both boys had on rather heavy weights and she couldn't lift either of them, only slow their descent into the water. She didn't let go of Naruto, even as she ran out of Oxygen and started to pass out her self. She didn't see the two blurs that were speeding her way.

Two green forms burst out of the water and landed on the shore. Maito Gai and Rock Lee were smiling. Over Lee's shoulder was the form of Sai, while Gai held Hinata in one arm and Naruto in the other.

A blonde woman in a green coat ran forward. "Get these three to the hospital ASAP!"

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," Gai said before he and Lee disappeared with nothing more than sheer physical speed, Tsunade right behind them.

Some time later, at the Hospital

None of the three had awoken as of yet. They had already gotten to the point of breathing on their own again, but they were still unconscious.

With Naruto.

Naruto woke in a familiar sewer. He had been there a few times.

"**Dumb ass," **Kyuubi said. **"You could have drowned, and I wouldn't have been able to save you."**

Naruto wasn't paying attention, however. He was thinking. Being in his mind scape, his thoughts were heard out loud.

"_Why is it always a sewer? Why does my mind have to be like some dark hole?"_ Naruto wondered.

Kyuubi snaked one of his tails forward to tap Naruto on the shoulder, causing the boy to spin around.

"**If you don't like the sewer, then change it. I would be eternally grateful," **the massive fox said.

"How do I do that?" the blonde asked.

The kyuubi gave him a long stare. **"It's your mind. Just do it. Don't think, just do. It's what you're good at anyway."**

"Oi!" Naruto exclaimed in protest. He calmed down and let himself think of his mind scape. He closed his eyes and viewed it mentally. He saw it changing into a massive forest. He saw Kyuubi's cage become like a bracelet on the fox's front left leg. Then he added many forest animals to make it seem more natural.

When he opened his eyes the changes he saw in his mind had already taken effect. He didn't see them immediately because Kyuubi snuck up on him while he had his eyes closed. So what Naruto saw when he opened his eyes was a giant mouth filled with many sharp teeth wide open. Naruto gave a quick scream and started running back wards, before spinning around and continuing to run.

Kyuubi closed his mouth, finishing his yawn. He noticed that Naruto had disappeared. He shrugged and lay down to sleep.

With Hinata

"Naruto-kun!"

Hinata awoke in a small field. It was covered with flowers of many types and colors. There was a pool of water to one side, with a small stream flowing to the other side of the field. The strange thing about the field was that it was floating in the sky. There were more fields around this one, all at varying heights, but they were all floating in the blue sky.

"**Hello, little one," **a voice said from behind her. She spun around to see a giant five tailed wolf.

She did the only thing her body could register. She fainted.

"**Oh my," **the wolf said to itself. **"I didn't think anyone could faint in their own mind."**

With Sai

Sai was in his mind scape. It was a white room. There was nothing in it, for the most part. It was practically a bedroom with the basics and nothing more. The only thing that seemed out of place was the dark blue and purple orb that was rotating in the center of the room.

Sai sighed. He knew that when he was in this place he was most likely unconscious.

Back in the Hospital

Naruto sat bolt upright. His heart was still pounding from what he thought was Kyuubi trying to eat him. When he finally calmed down, he noticed that he was in a four man room. In the bed across next to him was Sai, and in the bed across from was Hinata. The bed across from Sai was empty.

He laid back down and went to sleep.

Chapter end

AN:Sorry the chapter isn't as long as it usually is lately, but I couldn't think of anything to add to this chapter. I had some ideas, but they have to be in the next chapter. By the way, I do like reviews, so review. And some bad news: I'm being sent elsewhere. They don't have internet there.


	25. Smiths and a ritual

Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto nor Ninja Gaiden.

AN: To make up for being out of touch soon, I decided to write a new chapter (and to show that one guy who gave me a bad review that I don't care.) ON WITH THE STORY!

A few hours from Konoha's east gate

Heading in the direction of the Konoha no Sato were two men. The shorter one was an old man carrying a large pack. It was much bigger than even he was. He wore traditional white robes and had a long pointy beard. His companion was just the opposite. He was tall and well muscled. He wore a sleeveless, tight fitting, jumpsuit with a pair of tabi boot. On his forehead was an artistic metal plate. The over the lower half of his face was a mask similar to what Kakashi wore. The rest of his head was hidden with a tight hood. Over his should was a single katana with a red grip and a blue-green gem in the shape of a curved tear drop. On his thighs were several kunai holsters.

"Muramasa-san," the taller of the pair asked., "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

The smaller man looked up at his ninja companion. "Yes, Ryu. The ninja of Hi no Kuni are honorable ninja, much like your former clan."

Ryu sighed and looked up at the sky. This was going to be a long trip.

Same time and distance from Konoha's west gate

Another equally old man was wandering toward Konoha on the opposite road. Unlike the other old man, he was taller and wore plain work clothes. He had a regular sized pack made out of leather. He, however, was alone. On his side he wore a katana with a green and white grip.

"Stop old man," a deep voice said from somewhere in front of him.

_'Probably a bandit,'_ the man thought.

Just as he finished the thought, a bandit stepped out. "I'm here to collect any valuables you may have."

"That would be a bad idea," the man said.

"Can it old geezer," the bandit said as his group burst out of hiding. "I know who you are. You are the legendary smith, Masamune. I know you have something valuable on you, now fork it."

"I don't want to hurt you," the smith said.

"Heh, I don't have the same problem. Men, kill him," the bandit leader said.

Masamune sighed and dropped his pack. He drew his weapon and with several quick slashes dispatched every last one of the bandits that had charged at him.

The leader was backing up, wide eyed. "I-impossible."

"The best smith is a former swordsman," Masamune said. "I will let you live as I hate to end a life. Now go. I suggest you find a temple or a shrine and dedicate yourself to good."

The bandit leader took the words to heart as he ran as fast as he could.

Masamune, after giving his blade a wipe down with a cloth, sheathed his sword and knelt on the ground, offering a prayer to the kami. When he was finished he stood up and grabbed his pack, continuing on his way to Konoha.

In the hospital

Several people were struggling against one person. That is to say, the entire rookie nine, as well as everyone else close to Naruto were struggling to keep him in the bed in his room.

"Let... Me...GO!" Naruto shouted.

"Tsunade-sama said that you had to remain here for at least three more days," Iruka grunted before catching a fist to the jaw.

Naruto flung everyone off of him with a burst of pure strength. Just as he was about to jump out of the bed, Hinata spoke up. "Naruto-kun, would you please stay in the bed and get your rest?" she asked quietly, tears starting to well up in her eyes.

"Anything for you, hime," he said. "Just don't cry."

"Good," Hinata said smugly, the fake tears disappearing. Everyone stared at the girl stunned. Even Naruto.

"That was unfair," he protested, yet not getting out of his bed. He started pouting, which Hinata started giggling, thinking the sight cute.

Hiruzen sighed in relief. If he didn't keep Naruto here, Tsunade was going to destroy his stash of his favorite books. The same series that Kakashi and Kakashi's team read.

"Hokage-sama!" an anbu with a cat mask appeared in the room. She had long purple hair. "The smiths Muramasa and Masamune are here in the village."

"Thank you, Neko," the elder Sarutobi said. "I will see them shortly. Also send for Higurashi Yokuro, from Higurashi weapons."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Neko said, before using the shunshin technique.

_'Perhaps I could get Naruto a new weapon,' _Hiruzen thought.

Later in the Hokage's office.

"It is good to see you again, Muramasa, Masamune," Yokuro said.

Yokuro was the best smith in the Higurashi family. His son was the one who owned his store that his granddaughter, Tenten, worked at occasionally. He was the tallest of the three smiths, with a build similar to Muramasa's companion. All three were well known throughout the elemental nations and beyond.

"I have a favor to ask of you three," Hiruzen said, appearing behind his desk.

"Ah, Hokage-sama," Masamune bowed. Muramasa would have bowed, but the pack on his back kept him in a half bowed state anyway.

"May I ask what the favor is?" Yokuro asked.

"A young man that I see as a grandson recently had all three of his blades broken in a spar yesterday," Hiruzen said.

"Ah, the Namikaze heir," Yokuro said. "I saw that match. It was glorious. I know for a fact that he takes care of his blades. I will accept."

"Who would be providing the materials?" Muramasa asked.

"I have them," the hokage said.

"If that is the case, I will lend my hand as well," Muramasa said. Ryu rolled his eyes.

"If the other two think it is a good idea, I shall lend my skills as well," Masamune said. "But I would like to meet the individual the blade is destined for."

"I think that is a great idea," Hiruzen said with a smile. "Follow me."

"This wouldn't have anything to do with you getting out of paper work for a while longer, would it?" Ryu asked.

"Maybe," Hiruzen said noncommittally.

He led the three smiths and the ninja to the hospital. Naruto and Hinata had been moved to a separate room and Sai had been released. Maybe it was because Sai didn't call Tsunade old. Or have a girlfriend that was keeping him in there.

When they got to the room, Naruto was on the floor doing sit-ups. Hinata was in her bed sound asleep.

"Naruto, I have brought some men who wanted to meet you," Hiruzen said.

"Greetings, Naruto-san," Muramasa said with a smile. "I'm the smith Muramasa. The other one here is Masamune. I'm sure you know Yokuro."

Naruto nodded in greeting before standing up. "It is a pleasure to meet you," he said with a grin.

"I would like to ask a few questions," Masamune said.

A few hours later, the smiths had left and Naruto was wondering how they had so many questions. He wondered what they for as well. He shrugged and started continuing his workout.

"Naruto-kun, you were told to rest," Hinata scolded him from her position on the bed.

"How long have you been awake?" Naruto asked.

"Since the smiths came in," she answered.

"Oh, well, I couldn't sleep," he said. "I'm too full of energy."

"I think I can help with that," Hinata said sweetly. She hopped out of her bed and walked over to Naruto.

"Nan-" he started to ask as Hinata pressed a certain part of his neck. He slumped over, unconscious. She smiled and picked him up, placing him in his bed. She considered it for a moment then climbed into his bed as well, going to sleep herself.

The door opened and Masamune entered saying. "I have one more question. Why do you fight?"

When he didn't get an answer, he looked at the blondes bed. When he saw the sight of Hinata and Naruto snuggled up together, his usually cold and distant face was graced with a warm smile. He shut the door quietly and left.

"So what was his reason?" Muramasa asked.

"From what I saw, he fights to protect his loved ones," the oldest smith said. (I'm making Masamune the oldest and Yokuro the youngest, by a few years.)

"Then let's get to work," Yokuro said.

"How long will this take?" Hiruzen asked.

"Normally, for the sword we're forging, with this type of metal, a few days," Muramasa said

The hokage nodded. He was full of patience after all.

"However," Yokuro said, "we, being who we are, can finish this in a matter of hours. If we were to work longer, it would be better."

"I think we should take the longer route," Masamune said.

"Agreed. It will be finished in a week," Muramasa said.

The smiths shooed the hokage out of the smithy and locked the door. _'A week, hmm. Then it should be ready just in time for Naruto-kun's wedding,' _the shinobi leader thought.

Two nights before the wedding

Naruto had been released after three days of rest, which gave him plenty of time to affix the seals for the ritual. And enough time to let Sasuke know that he didn't have a choice in the matter.

"Everything ready?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke nodded. He was slightly uncomfortable. He was sitting in the center of the room without his shirt. The reason for this was that his torso was covered in numerous seals. The room was covered in seals. There were three circles that had no seals. Sasuke was in one, one was right in front of him, the other one was behind him.

"You ready to do this?" Naruto asked him.

"I guess. Just hurry up. I want to go to sleep," the Uchiha said.

"Okay, now focus all your thought inward," Naruto said.

"I got it," Sasuke said.

Naruto sat by while Sasuke took several deep breaths and relaxed.

In Sasuke's mind scape

Sasuke found himself standing on a dirt road. To either side of the road was darkness. Before him loomed a giant temple with a massive, seven tailed bird.

"Suzaku," Sasuke whispered to himself. He entered the temple. He was shocked to see an elevator instead of stairs. Shaking his head he entered the elevator. When he looked at the panel there were twenty buttons. Buttons one through eighteen had bright white numbers. Button nineteen had a faded grey number, and button twenty was a star. Seeing as how his tenant was at the top, he pressed the star. The elevator doors closed, then opened. Sasuke was already at the roof of the temple.

"That was fast," he said. He walked out of the small transport and onto the roof.

"**So you have finally come, hatchling," **the phoenix said. **"What is your purpose to coming to see me?"**

"I came to ask to borrow your chakra," Sasuke said.

"**Why would you want MY chakra?"** Suzaku asked.

"My friends father has lost his soul and his body. We are performing a ritual to re-obtain both. Your chakra is the most vital piece of the entire ceremony."

"**I highly doubt that," **the giant bird said. **"However, I will lend you my power this once."**

"I thank you, Suzaku-sama," Sasuke said, bowing low.

"**Now, it is time for you to AWAKEN," **Suzaku's voice boomed out.

Naruto saw the golden red chakra pour out of Sasuke. He made a hand seal and started to call on Kyuubi's chakra. Minato's ghost appeared in the last circle.

Naruto started to flash through hand seals, his brow knitted in concentration. He drew in the chakra that Sasuke was releasing, as well as the kyuubi's. With his last hand seal he cried out, "TENRAI AKUMA TENSEI!"

There was a blinding flash of light, then darkness for both boys, and the one man.


	26. Wedding clothes

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Ninja Gaiden.

AN: I only brought in Ryu and Muramasa for the sword. I decided to have multiple legendary smiths work on one blade. I found the right Muramasa when I was playing Ninja Gaiden last year, and the idea occurred to me a few days ago. I never played a game or saw an anime with Masamune, so I made him into an OC.

Not to longs before Naruto was released from the hospital

Hinata had already been released from the hospital. She, like Sai, was very polite to Tsunade and as such was allowed to leave. Since Naruto called the woman old, he was forced to stay longer. It was really his fault, but he would never admit it.

Hinata was sitting in her room thinking on the troubling events. She was certain that the floating fields was extremely familiar, but she couldn't place it.

_'Why can't I remember?' _she berated herself.

"**I don't know,"** a deep voice echoed.

"Who said that?" The heiress asked in surprise.

"**You don't want to be talking to me out loud. People might think you're crazy," **the voice answered. **"I can hear your thoughts."**

_'How? Are you a mind reader?' _Hinata asked mentally.

"**Only for you. I am sealed inside of you. I am the Gobi no Ookami," the voice answered.** **"The five tailed wolf, master of the five base elements."**

_'So that means I'm like Naruto-kun?' _Hinata asked.

"**Yes, in a way," **the wolf answered.

_'If you are a master of the five elements, why is it that Naruto-kun has all of the elemental affinities?' _the young woman asked.

"**To answer you truthfully, I don't have a clue," ** Gobi answered.

_'You said I was only similar to Naruto-kun in a way,' _Hinata said._ 'What do you mean by that?'_

"**There are many different sealing methods for trapping a Bijuu into a host. For the Yonbi and below, the host can be almost anything as large as a teapot or bigger. From, well me, and up it has to be a living being. Humans are best. But the drawback is that it has to be done before the human's chakra coils are formed. Which narrows it down to infants. Even that has its risks," **Gobi explained. **"Then there are two other types of sealing. Involuntary and willing. In an involuntary sealing, an outside force seals the object into a host. This usually loses half the power of what is being sealed. However, a willing sealing is different. It is entirely a bijuu's choice. The host has access to all of power. However, as with all jinchuuriki, if the host calls on too much power, the host's life is shortened. And the more power the host calls on, the more likely the Bijuu is to try and take control. I know of only two Bijuu who have done the willing sealing. Myself, and Nanabi no Suzaku who sealed himself into one of your friends."**

_'Who?' _Hinata asked, wide eyed.

"**Why, none other than Uchiha Sasuke," **the Ookami answered.

Hinata let out an eep and fell over, unconscious, just as her father walked in.

_'I wonder what that was all about,' _Hiashi thought. _'She hasn't fainted like that since before Naruto asked her out.'_

The Day after the resurrection

Minato opened his eyes. At first they were assaulted by the bright hospital lights, but they quickly grew accustomed to the beams. He looked over to see Kushina sleeping with his hand in both of hers.

_'That's nice,' _the yondaime thought sleepily. Then it hit him. His hand was being held in hers, not going through it. His eyes widened and he jumped into the air yelling in victory, going against his usual quiet and serious demeanor.

His celebration was short lived as Kushina grabbed his hospital gown and yanked down hard, sending him crashing to the floor. The red head then picked him up and kissed passionately, causing him to faint again.

Kushina chuckled to herself. _'Just like Hinata.'_

In another room in the hospital.

Naruto woke up groggily.

"Hey, kit. What's up?" a voice asked from the other bed.

Naruto looked over to see a tall tan man with short red hair. His eyes were crimson and the pupils were slit. His canines were elongated.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked. The voice was familiar.

"After all this time being sealed in you, and you don't recognize me? I"m hurt." the man mock pouted.

"Kyuubi?" Naruto asked.

"The one and only," the man smiled. His voice was much softer than it was when he was in fox form.

"H-h-h-how? When?" Naruto asked.

"The only two theories I have are that either Suzaku's power returned me to my body, or that when your father's soul returned, the seal, which was tied by his soul being in Shinigami's stomach, was undone. As we had not yet began to fuse, I was able to be released without fear of harming either of us. Although," Kyuubi said. "It seems that you still hold a full nine tails worth of chakra as reserves. It will slowly convert you into a hanyou. Don't worry, the worst you have to worry about right now is a significant power boost. You won't actually become a hanyou until after you die. Which brings me to the next topic."

"Nani?" Naruto asked.

"If you use this power too often, it could shorten your life span. However, since I am no longer sealed with you, I can't take over if you use it," Kyuubi answered.

"Isn't there a seal or something that I use to keep the power from hurting me?" Naruto asked.

"There is one, but it is extremely painful," Kyuubi said. "I know how to do it. And I don't have to wait for the special conditions that ningen sealers do."

"I'll take it," Naruto said determinedly.

"This will only hurt a lot," Kyuubi said with a sadistic smirk as he got out of his bed and crossed the room. Blood red chakra formed on both of his hands.

With a shout similar to a martial arts battle cry, he slammed both hands down onto Naruto's stomach. Hard.

To Naruto's credit, he didn't scream. He only 'oofed.'

"Now, I think we should check out," Kyuubi said. "You have a wedding tomorrow."

"That's right," Naruto said, one hand still clutching his stomach. "By the way, what are you going to go by out there?"

"Just Kyuu will be fine," the fox in human form said.

Just as Naruto stepped out side of the hospital, Hiashi walked up. "I need you to come with me."

"Why?" Naruto asked, following the clan leader.

"Because, you need your Kimono done, and your parents are in the hospital," Hiashi said. Seeing the worried look Naruto had he sighed. "Your mom is fine, she is just waiting with your father."

Naruto sighed in relief. At least his parents were alright. They would be able to attend the wedding.

Hiashi led the way to an extremely formal clothing store. The man at the register was slightly... apprehensive... about letting Naruto in. However, he knew better than to say anything against the boy. Especially when he was being escorted by the head of the Hyuuga clan.

"We need a men's wedding kimono," Hiashi said. "Something simple, yet stylish."

Naruto blinked in surprise at the Hyuuga. Normally the Hyuuga went extravagant on everything. Even their bathrooms were extravagant

"Any color preferences?" the cashier asked.

"Red," Naruto answered quickly. "with a bit of black."

"Got it. Are you going to size it here?"

"Yes," Hiashi answered. "We need done before tomorrow."

"Any reason why you wanted it simple?" the shop keeper asked.

"So that my son-in-law here can put it on by himself for other events in the future," Hiashi asked.

"That's good," the shop keeper said. "Clan symbols?"

"Uzumaki on the right shoulder, Namikaze on the back, and Hyuuga on the left shoulder," Naruto said.

The shop keeper nodded and got to work.

Sometime later that day

Naruto was looking in the mirror as the shop keeper was finishing the kimono. Hiashi had left earlier due to a council meeting. He said he would be back later that day. While he was gone, Naruto was talking with the shop keeper.

As the shop keeper got to know the boy, he found him liking him more and more. He couldn't believe how the village had treated him before. He promised himself that he would find a way to make it up to the boy.

"You know, I was thinking about getting more of an everyday clothing section opened in the store," the shop keeper said.

"If you do that, I'll be one of your first customers," Naruto promised. "What's your name anyway?"

The man smiled. "Kyoru. Reida Kyoru."

"Kyoru," Naruto said to himself. "Well then Kyoru-san, how would you like to come to my wedding tomorrow?"

"I would be honored Naruto-san," Kyoru said. "It's a shame your father isn't around anymore. He'd be proud of you."

"Actually, he's alive," Naruto said, causing Kyoru to drop his needle.

"Nani?" the brown haired man asked, picking the needle up again.

"Yeah. There was this ritual I did that brought him back. I can't give you the specifics. The hokage said that it's an SS class secret," Naruto said.

"Naruto, you are a truly amazing individual," Kyoru said. After a moment of silence, he spoke again. "So your wife is a Hyuuga?"

"Hinata, the heiress," Naruto said distantly with a smile on his face.

"You must really love her," the shop keeper said.

"More than anything," the blonde boy admitted.

"Have you gotten her a ring yet?" Kyoru asked. It wasn't necessary to have a ring to get married in Konoha, but it was encouraged. Usually the better the ring, the more it showed the woman how much you really loved her.

"No," Naruto said sadly.

"And done," Kyoru said, cutting the thread. "Come with me, I have something to show you." The shopkeeper led Naruto to the back of the store. He pulled out a tray full of rings. "Pick one. It's free."

"These have got to cost a fortune," Naruto said. "I couldn't do that."

"Kid, this is my way of apologizing for all those years you had to go through. Besides, you are going to shop here more often, right?"

"Yeah," Naruto said. "But..."

"I'll make you a deal," Kyoru said. "If she's not entirely happy with the ring, then you can pay for it. Deal?"

"Alright," Naruto said. He turned his gaze to the tray. There was one ring in particular that stood out. It was a dark silver, almost black. The ring had a perfectly cut amethyst on top, surrounded by seven tiny diamonds.

Kyoru saw which one had drawn the blondes gaze. He chuckled to himself. He grabbed the ring and put it in a box and handed it to the blonde. "It's a chakra enhanced ring, made from a special metal from a meteorite. It will readjust to fit the finger of the person wearing it. You can also store chakra in it, to use at a later date. There are some other things to it that you will have to find out on your own."

On the inside, Kyoru was laughing for joy. The main ability of the ring was its capability to allow the wearer to 'talk' to the owner of the other ring. What made this so funny was that Hinata had bought the other ring herself, to give to her husband.

"Arigato," Naruto said.

"No problem. Now, let's get you changed back into your regular clothes. I'll box these up for you," the shopkeeper said.

While Naruto was dressing and Kyoru was boxing the kimono carefully, Hiashi walked in. After Kyoru handed the box to Naruto, Hiashi attempted to pay. Kyoru insisted that Naruto take it as a gift. Neither of the shinobi were able to win an argument against this store owner. He waved the two men goodbye, promising to see Naruto at the wedding.


	27. The Wedding and Night of

Disclaimer: I have never owned Naruto, nor do I plan on it. I wouldn't be able to write multiple stories if I did.

AN: Don't blame me for this. I don't really have anything to base it on. Like I said in my profile, I'm single, therefore have never had a wedding. And I just found out another translation. I believe this is good for a laugh. Hinata's favorite food is a pretty much a sweet roll, or something similar to it, and red bean paste. Red bean in Japanese is anko.

WARNING: This chapter contains a lemon! I will warn yo u when you get to it. Don't be too harsh a judge on this as it is my first lemon.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hinata was extremely nervous. This was the first day of the rest of her life with Naruto. Like everyday before. She wasn't getting cold feet, and she hoped Naruto wasn't either. She just didn't want to make a mistake and ruin it for Naruto. Deep down she knew that as long as she was with Naruto, he wouldn't care if she made a mistake or not. That didn't matter because she was still nervous.

Haku, who was also getting married that day was wearing a kimono similar to Hinata's. The only difference was the color. Hinata's was a light purple with the Hyuuga crest on each sleeve. Haku's was a darker purple with the Momochi crest.

She thought back to their first date.

FLASH BACK

"_Ne, Hinata," __ Naruto asked. __"I know we've been going out for a while, but we haven't even had one date yet. How about we go out tonight?"_

_Hinata thought about it for a moment and dragged Naruto in for a kiss, for his kind consideration of course. "I think that is a lovely idea," the heiress said._

"_Great!" _Naruto said. "I'll be back later, around seven thirty, 'kay?"

_Hinata nodded and Naruto took off leaving Hinata to get ready._

_Seven twenty eight_

_Hinata was getting slightly worried. Naruto hadn't shown up yet. He was usually early, but it was two minutes until he was due to show up. _

_Hinata chose to wore a light purple dress kimono with a deep purple obi. Underneath the kimono was another darker robe,about an inch or so further out than the lavender one. She had brushed her hair, but there wasn't much she could do with it. (Her original hair style, just a little longer. Not much.) She had opted not to wear makeup._

_The clock on the wall changed to seven thirty just as there was a knock on the door. She opened it to see Naruto. He wore his black ninja pants and a long sleeve black shirt with gold and blue flames on the sleeves. The look on his face was priceless, currently not matching his clothes. _

_His jaw was dropped as far as was humanly possible, a bit of drool leaking out of one corner. His eyes were wide, though the iris and pupil were a bit smaller than usual. His right eyebrow seemed to be twitching, and there was a tiny trickle of blood oozing out of one nostril._

_Hinata giggled behind one arm, and Naruto's face straightened, as if nothing was wrong with it. "So, ready to go?" he asked._

"_One moment, Uzumaki-san,"__ Hiashi's voice called out. He entered the room wearing the usual Hyuuga robes. He grabbed Naruto's arm gently and led him out of ear shot before whispering something to Naruto. He handed him something and whispered something else. _

_Naruto, being Naruto, answered out loud. "I promise you I won't need this. I couldn't do that before hand anyway." Hiashi slapped Naruto upside the back of the head. _

"_I expect you to have her back no later than midnight,"__ the clan head said._

"_Can do,"__ Naruto said with a grin._

"_Have fun,"__ Hiashi said, shoving the two out of the door. _

"_So where to, Naruto-kun?"__ Hinata asked._

"_You're going to love this," he said as he led her out of the gates of the compound, one arm lightly holding her close to him. He led her to the their training grounds. She looked at him questioningly, but he just grinned and squeezed tighter. _

_He took her through the forest to a part of the training area they hadn't used for... well anything. Before they arrived he took out a strip of cloth and tied it around her eyes. "No peeking, and no Byakugan," he said, making her promise._

_She was tempted to do it, but she gave her promise, and she always kept her promises. That was their nindo. After a bit more of being led, Naruto told her to hold still. As the blind fold slipped off of her eyes, she gasped._

_Before her was a large lake, the setting sun making the scene even more beautiful. The trees framed the lake on all sides, but there was a clearing where they were at. On their shore was a set of tree stumps. There was a really large on in the middle, and a smaller one one each side. On the large stump was a small table cloth, set so that it only really covered the top. On each of the smaller stumps was a pillow. Beside the 'table' was a picnic basket._

_Naruto grabbed her hand gently and led her to her seat. _

"_So what's on the menu?" the girl asked._

"_For starters we have have yakitori with a bit of vegetables on the side. Then we have a special miso soup, no noodles, followed by desert." __ the boy said in a waiter like fashion as he placed the chicken skewers and soup on the 'table'._

_When he sat down, the both bowed their head. "Itadakimas."  The both went to eat. Naruto actually ate at a slow, controlled pace, showing very good table manners. Hinata hesitated a bit then took a bite. Her eyes widened at the taste. She started eating a little bit faster. She didn't go all out, like Naruto did with ramen, but, while she was showing proper manners, the speed increase was noticeable._

"_The food is really good, Naruto-kun," Hinata said. "Where did you get it?"_

_Naruto chuckled a bit. "I made it,"  he said with a smile._

"_You're a really good cook," __the heiress said._

"_Well, it was just me and Sasuke when we were growing up, so one of us had to learn how,"__ he said. He dropped his voice to a whisper, as if the one he was talking about were there. __"Just between you and me, I wouldn't let Sasuke any where near a kitchen."_

_Hinata giggled. They finished the meal while talking about the parts of their lives that they weren't with each other. Or laughing about the funny times that they were together, like the time they had to save Sasuke from fan girls by telling the fan girls that Sasuke went to the river, or the time when they painted Sasuke's room pink, as well as dying his clothes the same color. _

"_And now for dessert,"__ Naruto said. He grabbed the basket in one hand, while offering his other to Hinata. He led them down to the shore line, where there was a blanket on the ground. The couple sat on the blanket and Naruto reached into the basket. __"For desert we have anpan."_

_Hinata's eyes lit up at the mention of her favorite food. Anpan was a sweet bun filled with red bean paste. These one's were smaller than the ones that were normally served at restaurants, being bite just about bite sized._

_Naruto picked up one of the small pastries and held it close to Hinata's face. The heiress opened her mouth and the blonde place the sweet in gently. "I know these are smaller than usual, but it could get a bit messy with a regular size."_

"_This is still very good Naruto-kun,"__ the lavender haired girl said._

_They spent a while feeding each other the bite sized pastries, while watching the sun set. After the sun went down, Naruto decided that it was time to head back. Hinata started to protest, but a yawn interrupted her sentence. Her yawn to be more precise._

_So they walked back through town, Hinata latched onto Naruto, his arm around her and her head on his shoulder. When they got to the Hyuuga compound gate the couple reluctantly let each other go, before entering the main house._

"_I had a good time tonight, Naruto-kun" the girl said._

"_Me too, Hina-hime,"__ the blonde said, causing the girl to blush. They leaned closer to each other, ending in a small simple kiss._

_After a moment, Hinata decided to ask a question that had been bugging her for a while now. "Naruto-kun, what was it that tou-san gave you before the date?"_

_Naruto answered just as Hiashi walked into the room. Hiashi was impressed that Naruto returned her at a decent time. "A condom."_

_Hinata promptly fainted. Hiashi palmed his face while shaking his head._

END FLASH BACK

Hinata took a deep breath to calm herself. It helped, slightly.

"You ready Hinata?" Tenten asked. Tenten was Hinata's cousin's team mate. She had her hair up in twin brunette buns. Instead of the usual Chinese combat dress that she usually wore, she was wearing a light lavender kimono. All of the bridesmaids were.

Hinata nodded. Hiashi and Zabuza entered the room. Each man went to stand by their daughter.

Everyone lined up at the door. "Let's do this," Hinata said with a smile. Haku nodded in agreement.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

To say that Naruto was nervous was like saying the kyuubi was powerful. However, he wasn't going to let a little thing like that stop him from being with Hinata. He thought back to their first date.

FLASH BACK

{Error. Flash Back played previously in chapter}

FLASH BACK END

Naruto sighed. Sasuke gripped his shoulder, smiling at his adopted brother. Hiruzen, in the traditional hokage robes, cleared his throat, and Sasuke walked over a few feet, leaving room for both of the young women to stand.

The door opened and the bridesmaids entered the room, Hinata's on the left (Grooms POV) and Haku's on the right. After the women each went to their respective sides, the brides entered on their fathers arms.

Both Naruto and Sasuke were breathless at the sight. Neither of the girls were wearing makeup. However, they didn't need it. Each was wearing a circlet made of flowers the same color as their kimonos.

When they reached the platform where Naruto and Sasuke were, the hokage turned to the crowd. "To begin, we shall start with the Namikaze Hyuuga wedding." He started to recite about how a wedding was the ultimate act of love, and how the two would be bound until death. "Now the two will take their vows. Hinata, would you please start?"

Hinata took a deep breath. "Naruto-kun, when I first laid eyes on you, everyone in the village hated you. But you were strong and kept trying to gain their respect. I came to admire you. Over time I realized that it wasn't just admiration, but that it had bloomed into love. I love you with all my heart and will always be their for you, no matter what. Aishiteru."

Naruto looked into Hinata's eyes and smiled. "Hinata, you were one of my first friends. You were, are, and always will be the most beautiful person I have ever seen. You are my moon princess and I will do everything in my power to protect you. I can not promise that I will always understand what you're saying," this earned a chuckle from the crowd, "but I will try. I will always be there to support whatever it is that you are trying to do. Aishiteru."

"Now for the Uchiha Momochi wedding," Hiruzen said.

Haku went first. "Sasuke, when I first saw you, I saw a broody emo boy." everyone laughed a bit, even Sasuke. "But I felt a connection to you. We both lost our families, and we both know what it means to be alone, even if we had someone to help us. You may be an emo, but you are my emo."

Sasuke took a second to compose himself, allowing the audience to catch their breaths. "Haku, you are the singular most beautiful person I have seen. I doubt that anyone will compare. Even the tenshi of tengoku would be jealous. You are one of very few people who understand my heart. I will support you in all of your endeavors, and I will not leave you alone. Even if you do bite," more laughter. "You are mine, but more importantly, I am yours."

"You may now kiss your bride," the hokage said.

Naruto leaned in and brushed lips with Hinata. They stared into each others eyes before launching into one of the most passionate kisses many had seen in a long time. They broke apart to breathe, when they remembered where they were. The newlyweds looked over to see Haku and Sasuke still going at it, rubbing each others backs through their clothes. "Hey, get a room," Naruto said loudly enough to catch the pairs attention. The broke apart quickly, faces bright red.

In moments the two couples were swarmed with family and friends.

That night

Naruto carried Hinata through the window into their room in the Namikaze residence. They had to escape the crowd at the reception when it started to get late. It was not done nearly as easily as they had planned it out.

Just about everyone had brought a present for the pair. The best one, in both of the pairs ninja opinion, was the pair of twin swords forged by the three legendary smiths. Each sword was made of a perfect composition of a rare chakra conducting metal and an even more rare metal from a meteorite that had hit near Konoha several years ago. The result was a very light blade that was at least twice as strong as one of the anbu blades, capable of channeling chakra.

Now it was night, and the party was over. Or almost. As soon as Naruto entered the room and set Hinata down, the girl pushed him onto the bed. She walked to the door, locking it, then cast a privacy jutsu. Then she turned to Naruto with a hungry look in her eyes.

_**!WARNING: LEMON ALERT :WARNING!**_

Hinata quickly crossed the room and leapt on top of Naruto. She kissed him passionately, running her fingers through his hair. Naruto returned the kiss, fingers exploring her back through her clothes, causing her to moan into his mouth. He shivered at the sensation. He brought his hands up and around to lightly grasp the edges of the kimono. He started to slide it off of her shoulders, as she undid the sash on his.

The blonde brought his hands to the lavender haired girls face, and with soft, gentle, movements traced the contours of her face. His fingers trailed down to her jaw and neck. She mewled in pleasure, breaking from the kiss. He continued down to her collar bone and lower. He brought his face to one of her breasts, sucking on the nipple while the his hand found the other. On an impulse, he flicked his tongue over the nipple. Hinata gasped out loud, digging her fingers into his shoulder.

He lifted his head away from her breast and kissed her again. She pushed him down, and started kissing down his body. She gave a mischievous grin when she reached the rim of his boxer. "I think we should try out that one thing in those books," she said suggestively. She hooked her thumbs into his boxers and eased them down.

His erect member popped up. While larger than average, it wasn't monstrously huge. Hinata wrapped on hand around it and started sliding it up and down. Naruto let out a hiss. Hinata placed a few kisses around the base of his penis and smiled up at the blonde who was watching her intently.

She gave a lick up his shaft and kissed the top of it, causing her husband to shudder. Hinata took the tip into her mouth, swirling her tongue around the tip of it. Naruto was grasping at sheets, his breathing slightly ragged. With a mental smirk, Hinata took the rest of him into her mouth. Naruto gave an involuntary gasp. Hinata bobbed her head up and down slowly, tongue swirling around the member.

"T-that feels great H-Hime," Naruto said, his sentence broken by the intense feeling.

Hinata's eyes twinkled as she met his. She started going faster, her hands reaching up to rub Naruto's sides, stomach, and chest.

He felt a warm sensation start to build up in his stomach. "Hinata, I think I'm close!" He managed to gasp. Hinata kept going, as if she didn't hear him. The feeling grew stronger very quickly. "HINATA! I'M CUMMING!" He shouted out, just before releasing into her mouth. The girl swallowed every drop. Naruto lay there gasping as Hinata climbed up and kissed him on the cheek.

"Did you like that Naruto-kun?" she cooed seductively. "Did it feel good?"

He turned to look at her and grinned. "The best thing ever. Your turn!"

"Wait, what?" she asked. She let out a quick shriek as Naruto grabbed her and rolled over. "Naruto-kun, wait!"

Naruto ignored her and slid the lower part of her kimono out of the way. "No panties? You are a very naughty girl," he said playfully. He leaned forward and kissed the lips of her moist vagina. He placed a few more kisses on the very edges, going in a full circle, then gave a few licks. Hinata moaned in pleasure. "You taste really good, hime," the blonde said. Hinata was breathing too hard to answer. Naruto grinned at her and inserted his tongue into her folds. He licked upwards, his tongue finding a spot, a nub, slightly harder than the rest of the area. When his tongue flowed over this Hinata gasped loudly. Naruto quickly changed tactics, focusing on this spot. Hinata started to writhe on the sheets, her hands grabbing the sheets.

The blonde gently inserted his first two fingers into the folds while he was occupied with sucking on her clit. Hinata whimpered a little bit. He started pumping the fingers in and out, twisting them back and forth. Hinata's breath sped up, leaving her in a half gasping state. "N-N-N-Naruto-kun!" she cried out loudly. Naruto flicked his tongue over the nub a couple of times, while pushing his fingers in slightly deeper than before. The effect was immediate. Hinata screamed out loudly, her hips thrusting upwards into Naruto's face as she released in the throws of her first orgasm.

Naruto slid up beside her, wrapping one arm over her waist. When she recovered she rolled over to look at him.

"Are you ready to go all the way?" Naruto asked.

She untied her obi, opening her kimono all the way. She stared into his brilliant blue orbs. "I'm all yours."

Naruto climbed on top of her, positioning his member at her entrance. "Are you really ready? I heard it's supposed to hurt the first time."

"JUST DO IT ALREADY!" Hinata screamed.

The blonde pushed in slowly until he reached a resistance. He looked up questioningly at the lavender haired girl.

Hinata, tired of repeating the same thing over and over, bucked her own hips up, forcing him to break her maiden head. She screamed out in a strange mixture of pain and pleasure. Naruto saw the tears in her eyes and hugged her tightly for several moments. After several moments Hinata whispered, "Alright, lets do it. Just, go slow."

Naruto took her words to heart and started slowly moving back and forth. Hinata leaned up and kissed Naruto passionately, wrapping her arms behind his head. She thrust her hips against his in a perfect synchronization.

"Faster," She whispered. Naruto nodded and started going a little bit faster. "Harder! Go Faster, Naruto-kun! HARDER!" Naruto started going much faster and harder. He was grunting from the exertions and Hinata was screaming louder than she ever had before. Eventually, both started to feel the same warm sensation.

"Hinata," Naruto said.

"I know," Hinata replied, "me too."

"Together?" he gasped out. She nodded.

Hinata grabbed Naruto's shoulders and rolled him over, so that she was on top. She kept thrusting against him. Naruto brought both of his hands to her breasts as she leaned down and kissed him, her tongue viciously rubbing against his. She sat back up and rubbed her hand gently across his chest at the same time that he squeezed her nipples. That was the finishing touch for both of them. The climaxed calling each others name.

When they had both recovered, Hinata lay down next to Naruto on their clothes that had somehow finished coming off.

"I love you Hime," Naruto whispered.

"I love you too," Hinata whispered.

Just before she fell asleep, she brought her hands together in a jutsu. Her hanss glowed blue as she lowered them to her private areas. Finished with the birth control jutsu, she allowed sleep to claim her.


	28. Chuunin exams begin

Disclaimer: I haven't found the worlds largest diamond yet, so I don't have the money to buy Naruto.

AN: I am glad that everyone enjoyed my last chapter. I want to thank my loyal reviewers, I have finally reached ninety reviews. (YATTA!) To the reviewer Iziel, I received your review, and thank you. I propose that you make an account here on . It's free and you don't have to publish a story to have one.

PS: I found another good story that I want to recommend. Naruto: Eternal Force by Desiderio.

Namikaze Uzumaki Kushina was having a good morning. She had finally gotten Minato in bed. She couldn't do it the first night, he was still unconscious. The second day he woke up, but was too weak, and that night he passed out. The day after that was her son's wedding, which she was immensely proud of. She shed tears of happiness, but if anyone confronted her on it not only would she vehemently deny it, she would pummel the person into a pulp.

Then, that night, she finally got him into the bed. She was extremely happy. He would have called it rape if he didn't enjoy it too. They both agreed that eighteen years is just far too long to wait. Kinda makes you feel sorry for them.

Kushina had just finished making breakfast. She was awake before anyone else, and decided to cook. It was just the way she was. When she was done, she yelled up stairs for everyone to come down. The only room she didn't get a response from was Naruto's. Which was odd, since he was usually the loudest.

So she went to investigate. She went upstairs and stopped in front of his door. Now, there was a slight problem with Naruto's door. If you didn't force it shut, then it was slightly open. The lock was partially broken. If you tried to lock the door without making sure the door was shut, the lock would still go through motions without actually locking. Hinata of course didn't know this, so the door was still slightly open from the previous night.

Kushina pushed the door open, saying loudly, "Alright you two, breakfast is ready!"

Now that she was inside the privacy sealed room, the two newlyweds could hear her. That was the good news. The bad news was that they could see each other. You see, Naruto and Hinata just passed out on the clothes, never actually bothering to either get dressed into something, or use the covers and sheets.

The couple stared at a bright red Kushina for a moment, before a slight breeze entered the room for a moment, brushing over their bare skin. Then everything happened at once.

Hinata let out a loud, half strangled 'eep'. She turned and tried to roll up into Naruto.

Kushina burst out of the room slamming the door, breathing hard.

Naruto had the best idea yet. He actually grabbed the covers and wrapped them around Hinata and himself. There were, however, two problems with this. One was that Hinata was pressing tightly against him, and two, he grabbed the blankets from the side of the bed that was against the wall, pulling roughly to the unsupported side. The two combined forces was enough to toss the couple out of bed and crash to the floor, Hinata on top.

The force shook the house slightly, causing perilously placed glass and ceramic objects to fall to the floor and break. Alerting all in the house that something was up.

All the current residents and guests popped their heads out of their rooms, into the hallway. The list included the Suna siblings, Naruto's cousin and cousin's team mates, Kyuubi, and the Suna nin's sensei Baki. The first thing they saw was a bright red Kushina, her face almost matching her hair.

"Everything okay?" Yamimaru asked, to which Kushina nodded, quickly.

"What's wrong," Minato asked, noticing the strange behavior.

"Nothing," the red head answered quickly in a strained voice.

Kyuubi sniffed the air and started chuckling. "It's-"

"DON'T YOU DARE!" the voices of Hinata, Naruto, and Kushina roared out in unison.

"Does it have to do with sensei's latest books?" Minato asked.

Kushina nodded.

"What's going on?" Gaara asked.

"Don't worry about it," Minato said, ducking back into his room with a grin. _'I'm proud of you son.'_

"If you want to know," Kyuubi whispered into Gaara's ear, "there is this special orange book. Here's a copy."

Shortly afterward everyone was getting dressed in their rooms when they heard a loud thunking sound in Gaara's room. Everyone rushed into the room to see a dazed Gaara, blood trail from one side of the room to the other, a familiar orange book on the bed.

"Oooookay," Temari said. "I think I will leave perverted little brother's room now."

She did just that.

Later that morning

The group of genin was running towards the academy at a refreshing pace. Gaara and Naruto were talking in the back, Kankuro was by himself, while the girls were chatting up front.

"Naruto, there is something important I need to tell you," Gaara said seriously.

"Nani?" Naruto asked.

"There is a plot to invade the leaf village later in the exams, in about a month or so. We were told that our informant is a traitorous Konoha nin by the name of Yakushi Kabuto," Gaara said. He pulled out a scroll and handed it Naruto. "Give that to your hokage."

Naruto nodded. Soon they were just joking around. Before they knew it, they were at the academy. Sasuke was already there waiting on them.

"What took you?" he asked, jokingly.

"Oh you know, the usual. Being embarrassed by your mom, her being equally embarrassed." Naruto said as Hinata turned bright red.

Sasuke saw this and grinned. "So you were caught in the middle of it, huh?"

Hinata couldn't help herself. She gave Sasuke a quick slap.

"You kinda deserved that," Naruto said.

"I guess I did," Sasuke said.

"Well, let's go in," Gaara said.

They got to the second floor. There was a sign that read 'Room 301.'

"It's-" Hinata began, before Naruto and Sasuke both placed their hands over her mouth.

"It's there to weed out the weaker people," Sasuke whispered. "Don't say anything about it."

Hinata nodded and the six nin made their way up to the third floor.

When they got to the door, Kakashi and Baki appeared in a puff of smoke.

"It's good to see you all showed up," Kakashi said. "The test can only be taken by teams of three."

"And if only two of us showed?" Sasuke asked.

"Then I'd have to stop you from entering," the silver haired jonin said with an eye smile.

"And if we kicked you ass and entered anyway, theoretically of course?" Naruto asked.

"If you didn't get charged with assault on a Konoha shinobi, then you might have made chuunin instantly," the scarecrow nin said. (Kakashi literally means scarecrow. On a side note, Iruka means dolphin and Kurenai means deep red or crimson.)

"Alright, well let's go in," Naruto said.

"Gaara, I saw what you said to Naruto on the way here," Baki said. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I am," the Ichibi jinchuuriki said.

"Very well, I shall inform your father," Baki said.

The six nin entered the room.

"Sasuke-Kun!" two voices yelled out as a pink haired girl and a blonde girl leapt at Sasuke.

They were stopped when Naruto grabbed Kiba and Lee, tossing them at each of the girls. "You do know that he's married now, right?" Naruto asked the two fan girls.

"But he's the last Uchiha," Sakura protested. "He falls under the CRA."

"I would," Sasuke said, "But..."

"But?" Ino asked.

Flash back

"_Uchiha Sasuke and Namikaze Naruto,"__ a councilor said. __"You two fall under the CRA and as such are expected to have multiple wives."_

"_I decline,"__ Naruto said. __"My father is back alive, and with more than one member, the CRA is null and void."_

"_I see,"__ Sasuke said. __"If that's the case, then I too am exempt."_

"_You are the last Uchiha,"__ the councilor said. __"You have to-"_

"_No I'm not,"__ Sasuke said. __"My brother Itachi is alive. As the current clan head for the Uchiha clan, I have not actually banished him from my clan." **'I guess he was good for something after all.'**_

"_Very well,"__ the councilor said. __"Neither of you are under the jurisdiction of the CRA."_

_Naruto gave Sasuke a high five._

Flash back end

"You can't do that!" Ino protested.

"Can," Naruto said.

"And did," Sasuke finished with another high five to Naruto.

"You might want to keep it down over here," a silver haired boy said, walking up. "A lot of the guys here are more experienced that you. They won't hesitate to kill you in the later parts of the test."

"They don't scare me," Naruto said. "Besides, I trained under Hatake Kakashi, Mitarashi Anko, Momochi Zabuza, and the newly reborn Yondaime Hokage, who by the way is my father."

A lot of people suddenly found themselves interested in something else.

"Ano," Hinata asked quietly. While Hinata was more confident in herself, she was still a little shy and still very quiet, unless she was angry at the members of her team or she was in bed with Naruto.

"My name is Yakushi Kabuto, I'm-" he started. He didn't finish because Naruto grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him to a dark corner in the room, confusing everyone in the room.

"I know you're a traitor to Konoha," Naruto said quietly.

"Naruto, you shouldn't joke about such things," Kabuto said.

"Your contact from Suna told me. You're working with Oto," Naruto said, causing Kabuto to stiffen.

"What do you want then?" Kabuto asked.

"I want you back on the side of Konoha," Naruto said. "And I want to know who the Otokage is."

"Fine, I was getting tired of him anyway. He's a homosexual, and a pedophile to boot," Kabuto said. "The Otokage is Orochimaru of the sannin."

"I'm going to kill him," Naruto said with such determination that Kabuto actually believed he could.

"Alright, so what now?" the silver haired boy asked.

"Now, we take the chuunin exam," Naruto said.

Just as he finished the sentence, there were several puffs of smoke.

"Alright you maggots," a familiar voice bellowed. "Shut up and listen."

"Ibiki-san!" Naruto yelled.

"Hey Naruto, what's up?" Ibiki said warmly to the blonde. This made all of the chuunin hopefuls even more wary of the boy. Everyone had heard of Morino Ibiki from Konoha. He was the best at interrogation and torture.

"I finished that scroll that you gave me," Naruto said. "I have all of it mastered."

"I'll have to get you something else to work on then," Ibiki said. He shook his head and looked at the rest of the genin. "Alright, line up and draw your numbers so that you can take this test. You will sit where you are assigned. Got it?"

Everyone nodded, too scared to find their voices. After everyone found their seats, Ibiki started to explain the rules.

"Listen up! There will be no questions asked, got it?" more nods. "The test is a point based system. You each have ten points. To pass, you must have a combined score higher than fifteen with you team mates. If you answer a question wrong, it's one point. If you are caught cheating, two points. If you are caught cheating five times, you are out." _'well duh.' _"After the first forty five minutes you will be called to stop. After that, you will be asked your tenth question. Any questions?" Sakura raised her hand, and was immediately pegged in the head by a rock. "I said there would be no questions. Now, begin!"

Naruto looked at the first question. It was a mathematics question. Something about if an opponent casts a ninjutsu at this angle and speed from this point, and another opponent throws a shuriken from this point at such velocity and at this angle. At what point does it hit?

_'That's easy,' _Naruto thought. He answered thus: [I am a ninja. Neither attack hits me. I pull off either a kawarimi or they were fighting a shadow clone in the first place.]

The rest of the test was harder. But Naruto got the basic idea of it and answered in simple answers similar to the first.

Sasuke and Hinata had it much easier. They were using their clans' doujutsus to answer the questions. The other genin from all over were not so lucky. There were many teams that were disqualified.

At the end of the forty five minutes, only thirty teams were left, including the oto team, a kusa team, the rookie nine, team Gai, the suna team, Kabuto's team. There were others, but they're not noteworthy.

"Before I ask the tenth question, I will have the examiners grade your papers." two more teams failed.

One of the chuunin ran a paper to Ibiki. He read it and smiled. "This is the best paper I have seen that was answered without cheating." in the crowd, Sakura gleamed to herself. "The owner of this test is one Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto." Everyone stared at him in disbelief. "Here is a good question to use. Purely theoretical. 'Which is more important, completing the mission, or risking the mission to help your comrades?' here is the answer. 'Both are equally important. If you don't complete the mission, then you lose contracts, but if your comrades fall, then you have less shinobi who can complete more missions. The only way to decide is if you consider all options and weigh them out, but usually the comrades win out.'"

Naruto was slightly embarrassed by all the attention.

"So now for the tenth question. Before I ask it, I give you a choice. You may leave now instead of taking the question," Ibiki said sadistically.

"Why would we do that?" Temari asked.

"If you take the question and fail it, you will remain a genin forever. Those that leave will have a chance to take it again in about six months," Ibiki said.

"That's bull," Kiba said. "There are people here that have taken the test before."

"Unlucky for you that this is my first time being a proctor," Ibiki said. _'A little lie every now and then can't hurt too bad.' _Two more teams quit.

"I don't care," Naruto said. "If I stay a genin, then I'll just be the first genin hokage. Nothing will stop me from my dream."

After no one else made a move to quit, Ibiki spoke up again. "Then you all...pass."

Just as he finished the sentence a dark object broke through the window. The dark object unfurled and pinned to the wall, revealing a banner which read 'Konoha's hottest kunoichi, proctor of the second exam: Mitarashi Anko!'

And standing in front of the banner was said Kunoichi.

"ANKO-NEE-SAN!" Naruto shouted, deafening everybody in the room.

"Hey Gaki. Heard from Minato-san that you had fun last night," Anko teased.

This caused Naruto to turn bright red. Hinata, who was sitting next to Naruto had a much worse reaction. She fainted, but Naruto caught her before she hit the ground.

"Alright everyone, listen up. Meet me at training ground forty-four in fifteen minutes.

Naruto grinned.

Training ground forty-four. The Forest of Death.


	29. Chapter 32

I have access to a computer but lack the ability to actually update my story. As soon as I have the capacity I shall update this story. As for my other fics, they have been place up for adoption. If you wish to adopt one of the other stories, message me. The story will go to the first message I get to. This story, however, is still mine. Also please check out my new forum for challenges. Ja ne.


	30. Forest of Death

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

AN: Sorry for the long update time. I've been busy. Also, just so you know, I have fixed, for the most part, Chapter 11. You should remember it. It was the really run together one. Well anyway, don't be expecting regular updates. Anyway, here's the next chapter.

"Welcome to the Forest of Death!" Anko cheerfully exclaimed.

"Home to giant snakes, massive man eating rabbits, and more than a few highly poisonous insects," Naruto piped in, to assist in adding a cheerful gloom to the forest.

"And your home for the next two weeks!" Anko said.

"Anko-san," one of the chuunin assistants said. "It's only for five days."

Anko turned to the chuunin. "What was that?" she asked sweetly.

"The hokage said that you're limited to five days if you hold it in Training Ground 44," the chuunin said nervously. "And that you're not allowed to use your snakes on the messenger."

"Oh, well then..." she stopped to think. She stood up and pointed at the chuunins dramatically. "Attack my minions!"

Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata all leapt at the unsuspecting chuunin, who was expecting the snakes to come anyway. Within a minute, the chuunin was bound and gagged, hanging upside down from a tree, wearing only his under garments.

The rest of the genin, even Gaara, edged away from the psychotic quadro.

"Now then," Anko continued. "You will be in Training Ground 44 for the next five days. Your objective is to obtain one of these." She held up a pair of scrolls. One had the kanji for earth, the other for heaven. "You will start out with one, and you must obtain the other."

"No way!" one of the genin said. She was on one of the two Kusa Nin teams."I refuse to enter that place!"

"Then you're quitting?" Anko asked.

"Yes!" the Kusa Nin said.

"Ok, now that there are only twenty-one teams, I will have one of the scrolls, and you must obtain it from me," Anko said.

"You're on!" Naruto beamed.

"Except for Konoha's team seven. They're not allowed to go for this one," Anko said as team 7 sweat dropped. "Now, line up at the booth to obtain your scrolls,"

She was interrupted by a bright flash of light that blinded everyone.

"What was that?" Ino cried out.

"It was a light flash," Sasuke said.

"Right, of course it was Sasuke-kun!" Ino said flirtingly.

Sasuke sighed. It was going to be a long journey through the woods.

After everyone had gotten their scrolls, they were assigned to one of the gates, to wait until noon.

As soon as the gate opened everyone except team seven rushed in. "You're not going in?" the chuunin asked them.

"We are," Sasuke said. "We're just taking our time about it."

Team seven sauntered into the gate, which promptly closed behind them.

"Okay, Naruto. What was with the flash bomb?" Sasuke asked.

"Hinata-chan, can you see if anyone is around?" Naruto asked with a mischievous smile, which Hinata copied. Sasuke started to feel left out.

Hinata activated her Byakugan and looked around. "We're clear, Naruto-kun."

Naruto whipped out a scroll and opened it. There was a single storage seal on it. With a little bit of blood and chakra he opened it, revealing the contents there of.

"Those are..." Sasuke said with wide eyes.

"Yep," Naruto said.

"Then we could-" the raven haired boy asked

"Yes," Hinata said.

"But you're going to share them out, aren't you?" Sasuke asked.

"Only with the people we want to pass," Naruto answered.

For the contents of the seal was a basket. Inside of this basket were all but the two scrolls that Anko had on her person at the time of the flash.

"Then the scrolls that were given out by the chuunin?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto took their scroll and opened it, facing the writing surface of it away from him. As soon as the scroll was opened a giant boxing glove on a spring shot out at rapid speeds. Repeatedly.

Sasuke looked at the scroll, at Naruto. Then he looked at the scroll again. "I have to learn how to make one of those."

"Now," Naruto said. "Let's go giving."

"We're going to have to give some of the scrolls to the other rookies, huh?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah." Naruto said. "You can hand them over yourself to look like the hero."

"Naruto, when we get out of here, you are so dead," Sasuke told the blonde.

"You say that now," Naruto smirked, "but I have friends in high places."

Sasuke stared at him. "Like the Hokage, your mom, Kyuubi, and a few sensei?"

"That," Naruto said, "and a few clan heads, a somewhat insane giant raccoon thing, and my wife. The last of which happens to be right behind you."

"Naruto's been teaching me how to use a sword Sasuke-san," Hinata said in a quiet, dangerous voice that caused Sasuke to shiver.

"Right," Sasuke said, voice strained with mock-fear, "let's go deliver some scrolls."

The genin looked at each other and shared a laugh before jumping off into the trees.

XxXxX

The one Kusa team stopped in a clearing. The leader turned towards the other two and made a hand sign. The other two nin dissolved into mud.

'_Kukukuku,' _the nin thought _'Sasuke-kun, you shall be mine.'_

XxXxX

The first group team 7 ran into was team 10. They were setting up a small camp next to a stream.

"Hey guys," Naruto greeted. "What's up?"

"Oh, it's you guys," Shikamaru said.

Naruto gave Sasuke a little nudge. The raven haired youth gave the blonde a death glare, before turning to team 10.

"We have obtained extra scrolls and would like to share them with you," Sasuke said as if he were reading from a script or prompter. "Please accept these heaven and earth scrolls as a sign of our… Naruto, I'm going to kill you."

"Look, just take these scrolls. The one's you have are fakes," Hinata told Shikamaru.

"How would you know that?" Ino asked, suspicious of team 7's motives.

"That would my doing," Naruto said with his hand behind his head. "I kind of replaced the scrolls with fakes right before they were assigned. When I set off the flash bomb."

"That explains it then," Shikamaru said.

"Do you have any snacks," Chouji asked.

"I have here a scroll full of random junk food of every sort," Naruto said pulling out another scroll. He tossed it to the chubby kid. "There you go."

"Mendokusei," Shikamaru said. "You've got everything packed except for the kitchen sink, huh?"

Naruto grinned, pulled out another scroll and unsealed a kitchen sink.

"Naruto, why does that look exactly like MY kitchen sink?" Sasuke asked.

"It is yours," Naruto said.

"Oh, okay then," Sasuke said, just before he charged Naruto with a dull kunai. He stopped when he felt a blade next to his throat.

Naruto put a blade to Shikamaru's throat.

"Naruto, what are doing?" Shikamaru asked with fear evident in his voice.

Naruto turned his head to look at the trio of team 7. He gave a wink and mouthed the words 'play along.'

He quickly moved his blade, slicing across the front of Shikamaru's shirt, before spinning and slicing down in front of Ino. With a quick spin on the ground, he kicked Chouji's legs from underneath him and slammed the sword into the ground beside him. Right into a packet of ketchup. When he pulled his sword out of the ground it appeared to have blood on it.

Shikamaru and Ino decided to play along, and sank to the ground, face down. Naruto turned to see Sasuke lying face down, Hinata's sword also covered with ketchup. Three Ame nin strode into the riverside clearing. They all had on yellowish white rain suits and rebreather masks.

"Entertaining, but now there are two of you, and three of us," the first nin said. He had brown hair swept up in a gravity defying fashion that made Kakashi's look sane.

"But you'll find that we're not as weak as your other foes," the second one, the one with a blue tight hood, goaded.

"Kuso!" Naruto swore as he backed up past the prone forms of his friends, Hinata by his side.

"Now, give us the scrolls, and we might let you live," the first nin said. The group stepped forward in unison. They proceeded into the group of prone forms. "Now, the scrolls."

Naruto smirked at the group. "Baka."

Three four shinobi leapt up from the ground, drawing kunai.

The first ame nin turned toward his companions. "I'll take the swordsmen," he said. Pointing to the second shinobi, he said "you take the two darker haired ones." Then he turned towards the last Ame nin. "You take the blonde bimbo and the fatass."

Time slowed a stop at that instant as four of the six Konoha nin leapt into the trees. The ame nin turned to see Ino and Chouji staring at them with flames in their eyes, evil expressions on their faces.

XxXxX

"Should we help them?" Hinata asked.

Shikamaru shook his head. "No, they got it."

"I think she meant 'should we try to help the Ame nin so they don't get killed'?" Naruto said.

Sasuke seemed to ponder it for a second. "No, they deserved their fate. Nara, we have to go find others. I trust you to save yourself and your team should anything happen."

Before Shikamaru could say anything, team 7 was gone.

XxXxX

Team 7 was going through the trees when they say Gaara's team and team 9 getting ready to do battle. Rather than confronting the two teams, they dropped two of each scroll and a note explaining the situation. At the bottom of the note were the Uzumaki, Hyuuga, and Uchiha clan symbols.

They repeated this process with team 8 and Kabuto's team. They then randomly tossed the scrolls into the forest, keeping only the set they needed to get in to the tower with. The team nodded to each other and prepared to set out when a giant gust of wind blew through the canopy they were in. Due to their training, they were able to keep a hold on the tree with their chakra.

"Kukukuku," a figure said, rising up from the branch on the next tree over. "Very good. You managed to weather my attack."

"Dear Kami," Naruto burst out, clutching his nose. "This guy smells like snake. Really bad."

"And what is wrong with snake, my dear Naruto-kun?" the Kusa nin asked.

"Just about everything," the blonde replied, as the trio readied their weapons and assumed their stances. "And who exactly are you who know so much about us?"

"My name is Orochimaru," the Kusa nin said.

"Uh, guys, we may be well out of our league here," Naruto said. "Should we run?"

"It would be useless," Sasuke said. "If he is who he says he is, then he could catch us easily. Our only hope is to stand our ground for now."

"I've sent out the pulse in the correct order for an emergency," Hinata said. "ANBU should be here any minute."

"So, I've only got a limited time to play," Orochimaru said. "That's fine. Let's be-"

He wasn't able to finish his sentence as a kage bunshin burst out of the ground, fist extended. The clone clipped the snake sannin on the chin, ripping the false face off of the body. (Or would that be ripping the original face off of the body to expose the sannin's true face?)

Team 7 charged in unison at Orochimaru. With skill and accuracy they managed to get through the sannin's defenses and score several minor hits until a sword pierced his chest. The team was surprised when the body turned into mud.

"So, you like to play with swords Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru's voice asked from behind the group. They spun to see him with a snake sticking out of his mouth, regurgitating a sword. It was a double edged blade. The hilt was wrapped in white bandages. The cross-guard looked like a thick Y covered in snake scales. A small piece of the blade, a small triangle near the hilt, was black with a black and baby blue yin-yang symbol. "Why don't you play with mine?"

"Sorry," Naruto said. "I don't make a habit of playing with other guys swords." Despite the seriousness of the situation, Sasuke and Hinata snickered at the joke.

"You wound me, Naruto-kun," Orochimaru said. "Though, not as bad as my Kusanagi will wound you."

Naruto said to his teammates over his shoulder, "Guys, I think we're screwed."

Orochimaru smirked and charged at the genin. He swung his sword in a horizontal arc, at about stomach level. Naruto brought his blade up vertically, blade pointing down, to block the swipe. The force of the blow sent the blonde flying about twenty yards.

'_Is this the strength of a sannin?'_ Naruto wondered before he crashed into another of the massive branches.

Orochimaru quickly launched a kick at Sasuke who went careening into the trunk of the tree of the branch they were on. The sannin's foot hit the ground and he twisted, his other foot swinging to hit Hinata and sending her right after Naruto.

"I have a wonderful present for you Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru said, his neck elongating. The snake sannin's face slithered in the air towards the Uchiha.

"Like I'd accept a gift from you," Sasuke said defiantly. His hands flashed through some seal, ending on tora. "Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!" The massive fireball incinerated the neck of the sannin.

But that body too turned to mud. "You will accept my gift Sasuke-kun," another Orochimaru head said from Sasuke's left. It opened it mouth to reveal two glowing purple fangs.

"Like hell he will!" Naruto roared, his blade flashing at Orochimaru's head. He missed, however, as the head coiled back. It quickly retreated back to its body.

"I'm tired of your interference," Orochimaru hissed at Naruto.

The snake nin charged at Naruto with the Kusanagi drawn. With a rain of blows that appeared to the team as a series of blurs, Orochimaru broke through Naruto's guard, sending the blade to fly out of his hand. The sword embedded itself into the tree. The snake nin Sparta kicked the boy who collapsed to the branch underneath his feet.

"Prepare to meet the shinigami," The pale man hissed. Raising his sword up in the air. He brought the point down, only for it to hit Hinata in the shoulder, the young woman crying out in pain. He jerked his blade free and raised it up in the air again. He spun on his heel as he sensed something. "ANBU! They got here quicker than I thought they would." He turned back to the pair at his feet. "I will kill you later." And with that, he vanished.

The ANBU did not appear in the clearing, rather they chased Orochimaru's chakra signature as he fled.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto yelled, cradling his wife to his own body.

Sasuke, who quickly dashed over, grabbed Naruto's shoulder. "We need to get her to the tower!"

Naruto nodded and picked Hinata up bridal style. The two who could still move quickly launched towards the tower.

They were shocked when Kabuto joined them as they were running.

"I felt Orochimaru's chakra signature," the silver haired nin said. "What happened?"

"The bastard stabbed Hinata-chan," Naruto said. "With the Kusanagi."

"That's not good," Kabuto said. "The Kusanagi is heavily poisoned. I might be able to remove it, but it would a difficult process."

"We're taking her to the tower," Sasuke said. "Can you heal her there?"

"Perhaps. They should have medical equipment there. We'll see what I can do," Kabuto said.

XxXxX

The group arrived at the tower in record time. The burst through the doors, where a chuunin was waiting for them. Rather than wait for him to prompt they tossed him the scrolls and charged up the stairs. The doors shut themselves and the chuunin charged up the stairs after them.

"You can't just-!" the chuunin yelled, but was cut off.

"Which way to the infirmary?" Sasuke demanded, slamming the chuunin against the wall, Sharingan spinning wildly.

"That way," the chuunin gasped.

As the team took off, Sasuke didn't let go of the chuunin, so he was drug along for the trip.

They found the infirmary doors, a room with a red + on the door. Naruto kicked the doors open and burst into the room, shocking the medics.

"Get me medical equipment, now!" Kabuto yelled at them. He gave them a list of what he needed. Then, as the medics fled to get the required gear, he turned towards the chuunin. "This team came across Orochimaru. The female was stabbed by the Kusanagi blade. The scrolls that you were given were the scrolls in possession of by team 7. I, as leader of team 38, hereby forfeit my team. I must stay here to attend this girl, and hopefully save her from the poison. I am not to be disturbed in any way. Do you understand me?"

The chuunin nodded and dashed out of the room to go make the records of what happened. And to send a messenger hawk to the hokage.

Kabuto turned to Sasuke and Naruto. "Naruto, you can stay. She'll need you here if and when she wakes up. That, and I may need you to lend me chakra, and you have more than enough for whatever may need to be done. Sasuke, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you leave. I'll come and get you when I'm through." Sasuke nodded and left, just as the medics were returning with the equipment. "Alright Naruto, this is going to be difficult. You two, I'm removing an extremely potent poison. I'm sure you know what to do." The medics nodded. Kabuto picked up a pair of blue latex gloves. He slid them on with a snap. "Let's begin.


	31. Tower Infirmary

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

AN: I can't believe I find MYself saying this, but I would actually like you to review. I do like them, you know, and it's harder to update without them. So please, review the chapter, and if you're feeling especially nice, go back and review the last chapter as I forgot to ask you to do so last time.

Hinata woke groggily. She was coated in a thin film of sweat, feeling as if she hadn't showered in days. She tried to raise her hand to clear her eye, but a heavy arm was trapping her own arms to her side. Doing her best to blink the grogginess away, she saw that the person that was draped over her was Naruto.

The blonde was fast asleep, dark rings underneath his eyes. In a chair behind him, Sasuke was sprawled out, or as much as one could be in a chair. It turns out that it's actually pretty well open.

Hinata slipped her arm out from under Naruto's, but that slight movement was enough to wake him. When he saw that she was awake, his eyes brightened considerably. With a swift movement he caught her up in a deep embrace.

"Baka, you had us all worried. Don't do that again," he whispered in her ear.

Hinata felt something wet rolling down the side of her face. She was shocked to feel Naruto's falling on her. She was more surprised that his tears were actually mingling with her own.

"Gomennasai," she said quietly, eyes wide.

Sasuke was awoken when Naruto had moved. Unfortunately, he was woken rather rudely. When Naruto had moved, his chair was sent flying back, right into Sasuke's. When the chairs hit, Sasuke's slid back into the door frame and toppled over, sending the Uchiha into the hallway. His tumbling rolled him down the stairwell just to the left of the door.

By the time he got to the bottom, Sasuke was wide awake. "I'm okay!" he exclaimed. Looking around he saw at least six people just staring at him. "What? I just said I'm okay." As everyone went back to whatever it was they were doing, Sasuke trudged back up the stairs, intent on murdering his blonde teammate.

When he got back into the infirmary, however, he saw that Hinata was awake and that she and Naruto were occupied with their embrace. He decided to file his anger away for later. Shortly afterwards, the couple let go of each other.

"So, how are you feeling?" Sasuke asked.

"I feel tired," the girl said.

"You look like shit," The Uchiha said.

"Sasuke," Naruto warned in a threatening voice.

"Sorry, but it is the truth," Sasuke said.

"Naruto-kun, could you?" Hinata asked, nodding her head in Sasuke's direction.

Naruto smiled at her. He reached out and slapped Sasuke upside his head. The Uchiha rubbed his head while glaring at the couple.

"Alright, well I'm going to leave you two alone for now," Sasuke said. "Behave yourselves, or I'll send Anko-sensei in here."

The couple shivered as Sasuke walked out of the room. The only reason they were scared of that threat was because it was one of the few the Uchiha would go through with.

"There are going to pre-lims the day after tomorrow. The medics say that you are fine to move around," Naruto said, "but everyone thinks that you shouldn't participate. Including me. No, especially me."

"Naruto-kun," Hinata said tiredly. "If I don't fight, promise me you'll win."

"I promise you," Naruto said. "And you know-"

"You always keep you promises," Hinata finished as she closed her eyes. "That's your nindo."

The girl drifted off to sleep.

XxXxX

Hinata found herself in the floating fields that she now realized were her mindscape. The Gobi was sitting on a rock next to a water fall that poured down twenty feet into a spring. How the water kept pouring into the shallow spring without it overflowing was beyond both of them. Then again, it was only a mindscape. The only rules that applied there were whatever Hinata said applied.

"**Long time no see," **the giant wolf said.

"Hello Ookami-san," Hinata bowed.

"**I brought you here for a special reason this time, Hinata," **Gobi said. **"I'm offering you power. The power to help protect your friends, your family, and your mate."**

"Nani?" Hinata asked.

"**This process will be incredibly painful," **Gobi cautioned. ** "Perhaps the most painful thing you have ever experienced."**

"Why would it be so painful?"

"**The amount of chakra you would obtain would rapidly expand your own coils. That alone would be enough to cause severe pain. However, according to my research, the power would also change your Byakugan."**

"Change?" Hinata asked. "How?"

"**By changing the frequency of the chakra input, you would be able to change how you see with it active. You could see infrared, x-ray, EMP, chakra, or even the very souls themselves," **The wolf said.** "However that would require a chakra frequency so low that most humans could never even imagine it." **

"How would you change a chakra's frequency?" the girl asked.

"**First you would have it either pulsing or vibrating. The faster the pulse or vibration, the higher the frequency," **Gobi explained.

"I see," Hinata said. "What else would the chakra do?"

"**With so much of my power in you coils, it would be easier for me to heal your injuries. You would have a significant boost to your stamina, speed, and strength. You would obtain keener instincts, and from my personal powers, if you were to focus well enough, you would be able to use any element," **the wolf stated. **"As it is, Naruto can only use the primary elements, you would be able to use any sub-element."**

"How painful would you say the process is?" the quiet girl asked.

"**Ever been to Hell?" **Gobi asked with a wicked smile. (seriously, do all the Bijuu have a sadistic streak? Even the good ones?)

"No," Hinata answered.

"**Good, awful place. Don't go there if you can help it. I would say that the amount of pain would be about ten times more painful than your clans caged bird seal. Only more widespread. Until it changes your eyes. Then it's about twenty times more painful, and more localized," **Gobi said.

Hinata took a moment to ponder this. She stared up into the Gobi's eyes. "I'll do," she said fiercely.

The giant wolf jumped down from the rock to land next to Hinata. **"This is going to hurt a lot," ** it said, before it shoved all of its tails into Hinata's abdomen.

Hinata did the only thing she could do. She screamed.

Hinata screaming awoke Naruto. It drew the attention of the medics, causing them to rush to the infirmary. It reached the ears of many other people, most who knew they would just get in the way.

Hinata was covered by a bright purple, almost white chakra aura. The points on her body that corresponded to her tenketsu were glowing fiercely. No one could get close to the aura without it harming them, except for Naruto, so everyone except him stood back a good distance. When the aura faded, a darker purple glow was emitted from Hinata's eyes. Soon, that died down as well.

When Hinata opened her eyes, people gasped.

"What's wrong?" She asked. Someone produced a mirror for the girl to look into. She gasped as well, but it was more of a pleasant gasp. Her eyes were a couple of shades darker than they used to be. But the most surprising thing was that they had a deep purple pupil in the center.

"Hinata, what happened?" Hiruzen asked. Hinata looked around at the number of people in the room and shook her head. The hokage looked around and then ordered everyone except for Naruto out. "Okay, now, what happened?"

Hinata took a deep breath, and then began to explain everything about the Gobi.


	32. Prelims pt 1

Standing in formation, organized by their teams, were those who had passed the second stage of the exams. From left to right were the rookie 9 plus team 9 in numeric order, the Suna team, an Oto team, a Kiri team, and a Kumo team. In the front rank of the formation were the designated squad leaders. Team 7 had chosen Hinata as their squad leader as she was the most intelligent of the three.

"Alright, listen up. My name is Gekkou Hayate and I will be you proctor for the last portion of the exams," said a jounin. He wore the standard jounin uniform, but chose to wear his hitai-ate with the cloth unrolled in a bandanna upon his head. Sticking up over his left shoulder was a ko-katana. He had an average looking face with brown hair, a bit of his bangs hanging down in between his eyes. "Normally, we would just congratulate you on making it here and send you on your way to prepare for the last part of the exam. However, since so many of you made it here we are going to have a one-on-one set of preliminaries." A giant screen extended from back of the room, just over the giant hands forming the 'rat' seal.

Names and faces flashed on each side of the screen before finally settling on two.

Abumi Zaku Vs Yamanaka Ino

As everyone else went up the stairs on either side of the room, the chosen combatants walked into the center of the room.

"I'm going to defeat you so Sasuke-kun will see me as better than that one girl," Ino told Zaku.

"Hm," the boy said. He had Kakashi like hair that was black. He had on a form fitting black shirt and a tan short sleeve jumpsuit. He had a scarf around his neck that was urban camo, and he had jaw protectors attached to the underside of his Oto hitai-ate.

"Are both combatants ready?" Gekkou asked. At the nod of the two, he raised his arm and slashed downward. "Hajime!"

Ino flashed through some hand seals, yelling "Shintenshin no Jutsu!"

Zaku dodged the barely visible wisp that flew by. When Ino's mind returned to her body, he raised a single hand at her. It had a small hole in the palm, a tube extending slightly from it.

Zaku yelled "Zankuha!"

A blast of air rushed out and hit Ino on the right temple. She fell over unconscious. Gekkou rushed over and checked her before standing back up.

"Yamanaka Ino is no longer able to fight. The winner is Abumi Zaku!" Gekkou announced.

The dark haired boy picked up Ino and carried her up the stairs to her team as the next match flashed on the board.

Haruno Sakura VS Yama no Samui

Samui was a fair-skinned woman of tall stature and curvaceous built with a sizeable bust. She had blue eyes and straight blonde hair framing her face with a shorter cut in the back and the front bangs reaching her shoulders. She wore a very low cut outfit with mesh underneath, a short skirt and red hand guards, high boots and what appeared to be a modified Kumogakure flak jacket that covered her stomach only, similar to a girdle. She also had a tanto strapped horizontally to her lower back.

Both the girls announced jumped off of the railing to face each other.

"You won't beat, true love conquers all," Sakura said with a glance up to Sasuke.

"It's girls like you who give us kunoichi a bad name," Samui said with narrowed eyes.

"Hajime!" Gekkou said.

Up in the stands, a few guys were drooling at the thought of a cat fight. Those that also had a female on their team were soon hurt in the most painful way imaginable to a man.

Samui drew her tanto as Sakura charged. While Sakura was running, she formed three bunshin. Her eyes widened in pain and shock when a foot was planted firmly into her gut. She flew back, bouncing on the ground a couple of times.

"How," the pinkette asked, pushing herself to her feet.

"Regular bunshin don't have shadows," Samui said coldly.

Sakura stood up and charged at Samui again. She was expecting the foot this time. What she didn't expect was the handle of the tanto to slam into the center of her forehead. She crumpled down twitching occasionally.

When Gekkou looked at Samui she shrugged. "My sword has a shock seal at the bottom of the handle."

Gekkou nodded then announced, "Haruno Sakura is unable to continue. The winner is Yama no Samui!"

Samui proceeded up the stairs, leaving Kurenai to grab her student. When she reached the balcony her team was on, the next match flashed on the board.

Aburame Shino VS Akimichi Chouji

Shino appeared on the floor via Mushi Shunshin. Chouji looked at the sunglasses wearing boy then shook his head. "I forfeit. I know I'd lose anyway."

"Chouji!" Ino chided.

"Ino, Chouji's right on this one," Shikamaru said. "Shino's bugs devour chakra, and he's much faster than Chouji is."

The next match flashed up.

Rock Lee VS Inuzuka Kiba

As both the boys hopped down, Kiba grinned to his canine partner. "This is going to be a piece of cake."

"Do your best Kiba-san," Lee said, "as I will not hold back on you either."

Gekkou set the match to begin, and Lee and Kiba charged at each other. Kiba was shocked at the strength and speed that Lee possessed.

He pulled out a pair of small pellets. He tossed one into the air above his head, and popped the other into his mouth. As the one in the air started its descent, Akamaru leapt out of the hood of Kiba's coat and snapped up the other pellet. The dog's fur turned a pale red and its features became more feral.

"Ready Akamaru?" Kiba asked. The puppy gave a quick yip in response. "Juujin Henge!"

Those who didn't of this technique watched as Akamaru turned into an exact replica of Kiba. The pair gave a viscous grin at Lee.

"Shikyakyu no Jutsu!" The features on both of the Kibas looked more animalistic. The nails lengthened into claws, the canines sprouted into fangs, and the eyes became slits. "Well Lee, are you ready?"

"I am ready when you are Kiba-san," Lee said, assuming his Goken stance.

Kiba and Akamaru charged at Lee. When they were half way to their destination, they leapt into the air. "Gatsuuga!" Kiba cried out, as both he and Akamaru turned into a pair of dark tornadoes. They burst past Lee, who barely dodged. They repeated this cycle twice more before one of them actually hit Lee in the arm.

"Lee!" Gai yelled down to his star pupil. "Take them off!"

"Are you sure Gai-sensei?" Lee asked his teacher.

"It'll be alright this once," Gai told him.

Lee nodded then jumped up on the fingers, barely avoiding another Gatsuuga. He reached down and pulled off his leg warmers, revealing the weights underneath.

"Surely he doesn't think that dropping a few pounds is going to do anything," said one of the mist shinobi.

Everyone of the Konoha shinobi shared a knowing look, mostly directed at the mist shinobi. Lee flicked the catch on both of his weights, causing them to fall off. He quickly put the leg warmers back on. By the time he was finished, two massive craters were in the floor.

"I'm sorry Kiba-san, but this fight is over," Lee stated.

Kiba only grinned and charged forward. "Gatsuuga!" The two tornadoes were half way to Lee when he vanished. He reappeared in the middle of a butterfly kick. He struck the left tornado. Because of his stance and posture, the Kick sent the person within upwards, into the ceiling. The body fell down to the ground and poofed into the unconscious form of Akamaru.

"You hurt Akamaru! I'll kill you!" Kiba roared, charging at Lee's back. "Tsuuga!"

Lee's response was to step to the left and raise his right arm into an L shape, fist closed. Kiba landed face first into the fist, effectively breaking his nose, on top of knocking himself out.

"Inuzuka Kiba is unable to continue. Rock Lee is the winner!" Gekkou announced.

Lee picked up Kiba and his companion before leaping the balcony. After putting Kiba with his team, he spun around to see the next people for the match.

Tsuchi Kin VS Sabaku no Kankuro

"You won't be able to escape my puppets," Kankuro told Kin as they descended the stairs.

"Just try me makeup man," Kin said with a smirk as she reached the bottom of the staircase before a fuming Kankuro. When they had assumed their position, Hayate began the match. Kin started off by launching several senbon needles, which Kankuro easily dodged.

"You aren't going to get away that easily," Kankuro taunted as he grabbed one of the two bandaged bundles off of his back. "This is Karasu. He wants to play with you."

"Sounds like something a pedophile says to kids," Kin said.

Kankuro growled and had Karasu shoot some of its senbon at Kin. She leaned to left and caught one easily.

"Poisoned senbon?" she asked incredulously.

"It's a highly effective paralytic agent found only in Suna," Kankuro said with a cocky attitude. "If it enters the blood stream, the person will paralyzed for up to ten hours, the most resistant person being able to shrug it off at five." Kin grinned at Kankuro, then unleashed a barrage of senbon at him. Kankuro had Karasu step in the way. "As if I'd let you hit me with my own needle."

"If that's what the boys are calling it these days," Kin taunted.

Kankuro fell for the bait, again. He launched Karasu at Kin who dodged. As she did, Kankuro could have sworn he heard bells. Repeatedly he sent Karasu after Kin who dodged time after time. After about ten minutes he had Karasu pull back and launch more of the poisoned senbon at Kin. He saw the needles rush towards the girl, almost pierce her skin when she smirked. He felt several stinging sensations around his chest and abdomen. With extreme effort he looked down to see the poisoned senbon sticking out of his own skin.

As Kankuro fell over, his eyes looked up at the approaching Kin. "You didn't stand a chance makeup boy. Once I caught you in my bell genjutsu, it was all over. At the end, you were so confused, you didn't even notice your doll was facing you, not me."

With what little movement he could muster, Kankuro chuckled as the proctor claimed Kin's victory. Gaara's sand picked up Kankuro as Kin went up the stairs.

"You did well Kankuro," Gaara said.

"She's so into me," Kankuro mumbled with what movement he could muster.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night younger brother," Temari said, causing Gaara to chuckle.

Nara Shikamaru VS Buki no Tenten

Tenten started off with a kunai, which was followed by twelve. Shikamaru demonstrated unbelievable flexibility, second only to the other members of his clan, who was second only to Mitarashi Anko herself.

Tenten, frustrated by the inability to hit the Nara boy, unsealed a large wooden hammer from one of her scrolls. She chased the boy down and kept swinging at the boy, trying to get him to stop moving. Her own words were, "Stop dodging you damn pineapple!"

When Shikamaru surprised her with a quick kick to the chest, she leapt back. _'I didn't want to reveal this before the finals, but this damn fruit head is pissing me off!' _Tenten pulled out two scrolls of a moderate size. With a smirk at the Nara she leapt into the air, unrolling the scrolls as she spun. "Soushoryuu!"As the scrolls gradually rose in the air she unsealed a large number of weapons only to fling them at Shikamaru, whether or not they were projectile weapons in the first place. When she landed back on the ground, the first thing she noticed was that Shikamaru was untouched by any of the weapons.

"Why you!" She yelled at him. She rushed him… or tried to. Her eyes widened when she realized she couldn't move.

"I'll let you see why you can't move," Shikamaru said, tilting his head down. As he did so, Tenten's head also bowed, allowing her to see a shadow that ran from shadow to shadow of her weapons. The next thing she knew, she was bending down. Her fingers closed around the handle of her hammer before she stood up and looked at Shikamaru.

"So, you're going to fight now?" Tenten asked.

"Not exactly," Shikamaru said, right before he jerked his hands in a strange motion.

Tenten stared at him in confusion, until her hammer crashed into the side of her head.

"Buki no Tenten is unable to fight. The winner is Nara Shikamaru!" Gekkou Hayate announced. "There will now be a ten minute break while we clear the floor of weapons and damages."


	33. Prelims pt 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

AN: Nothing new to report. Let the story begin.

After the floor was cleared of weapons, debris, and holes, the matches could continue. Those that had not yet gone were looking at the board with expressions of determination and anxiety, and in one case, boredom. Those who were already done were just waiting for the matches to be over.

Terumi Toshi VS Kinuta Dosu

Toshi was about average height with short spiky red hair and blue eyes. He wore the bluish urban camo leg and arm warmers of Kiri. Like Zabuza and Kakashi he covered his face. He did so with a metal plate rather than bandages or a spandex mask. He wore a grey sleeveless shirt over a long sleeve mesh shirt.

When the boys were situated, Hayate began the match. Rather than just rushing in, both boys stared at each other.

"You smarter than most of the others," Dosu commented.

"You're not brain dead yourself," Toshi said with a smirk, causing Dosu's eye to twitch.

"Say what you want, you won't be able to overcome my melody arm!" Dosu growled. He thrust the gauntlet out in front of him and let off a burst at Toshi.

The Kiri nin gave a smirk beneath his mask. "Suiton: Suijinheki!" A large wall of water burst out of the ground beneath the floor, stopping the attack. "You have to do better than that," Toshi commented offhandedly.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Dosu growled, shifting his gaze back and forth from the massive hole in the floor to Toshi.

"Terumi Toshi, nephew of Terumi Mei, the future Mizukage. Of course, once she retires, I'll be the Mizukage as well." Toshi said with an air of superiority. "Though, I didn't obtain the family's kekkei genkai. But I got a new one of my own. I don't have to make hand seals." Everyone's eyes widened. That was a great ability indeed.

"You're smirking aren't you?" Dosu asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Who wants to know?" Toshi asked mockingly.

Dosu growled and took a step forward. "Listen punk, I'm gonna give you one opportunity to stand down. I was trained by the Otokage himself.

"Aren't you terrifying?" Toshi asked. "Not! Suiton: Teppoudama!" A mass of water the size of Toshi's head rose from the hole and crashed into Dosu.

The attack didn't faze Dosu in the least. "You'll have to do better than that water boy."

"Che," the redhead scoffed in annoyance. "Fine. Suiton: Suiryuudan!" A somewhat shaky, thin version of the water dragon rose from the hole. Toshi was covered in sweat from the exertion of using it.

"It seems you're running out of juice," Dosu smirked from behind his bandages. He raised his arm and fired off another burst of sound.

Toshi stood up straight, his water dragon gaining strength and form, becoming much more stable. It rushed through the sound attack. "Suiton: Suiben!"

The water turned into a long tendril and wrapped around the Oto nin, restraining him. Dosu's eyes widened. "You-"

"Yeah, I was just playing around with you," Toshi said, approaching him. He put his hand on Dosu's shoulder. "Seriously though, good match."

"This isn't over yet," Dosu growled at the Kiri nin.

"Have it your way," Toshi shrugged. "Suiton: Suirou no Jutsu."

Dosu struggled for a minute as the water prison sapped his strength before he passed out.

"Kinuta Dosu is unable to continue. The winner is Terumi Toshi!"

Toshi walked up the stairs to the balcony as Zaku and Kin drug Dosu up the other set. The look on their faces was one of disgust, mostly because they didn't seem to like Dosu. Evidenced when they dropped him without regret when they reached their area.

The hokage performed a quick doton to seal the hole in the floor. _'I wish these kids would stop knocking holes in my floor.'_

Sabaku no Temari VS Umi no Robei

The blonde girl smirked at the Kiri nin. "You look like you might be fun," she said with a smirk.

"More fun than you can handle," he teased back. He was dressed just like his teammates. He had short black hair and black eyes.

"Hajime!"

Temari cocked her fan back as Robei flashed through some hand seals. "Suiton: Suijinheki!" The wall of water rose for two seconds then fell. Everyone sweat dropped when she saw that Robei hadn't moved.

'_Unimaginative much?' _Temari thought. She swung her fan in an arc at Robei. "Futon: Daitoppa!" the blast hit Robei, sending him flying into the wall. His head snapped back and he fell down unconscious. "Wow. That didn't beat you did it?"

Hayate rushed to check on the Kiri genin. "Umi no Robei is unable to continue. The winner is Sabaku no Temari!"

"You have got to be kidding me," Temari grumbled. "Out of all the strong guys here to fight, I had to end up fighting someone who couldn't take a little blowing."

Kiba, who had just returned to consciousness, heard the muttering girl. "I could take your blowing," he said pervertedly.

The three girls who were near him each assaulted him. Temari smashed her fan down onto his head, Hinata punched his jaw, and Samui tapped her electricity seal to his… let's just say that Kiba was unconscious after that.

Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto VS Sabaku no Gaara

The boys smiled at each other as they proceeded down to the ring. They each took a stance apart from each other.

"Naruto, we both know what will happen if I get knocked unconscious," Gaara said seriously. "So for you to win, you only have to get three hits on me."

"Are you sure Gaara? I mean, this is an important fight," Naruto said, concerned for his friend.

"Do you want a fifty foot tall insane raccoon made of sand and chakra to run free so close to your village?" Gaara asked.

"Well when you put it that way," Naruto acquiesced.

Gekkou nodded at the boys. "Hajime!"

"Don't hold back!" Gaara said loudly, wearing his own smirk.

"Don't get cocky," Naruto retorted as he charged Gaara, fist cocked back for a strike. He swung hard at Gaara's face, only for a wall of sand to rise up and block the blow.

Naruto jumped back and a fist of sand shot at him. He leaned back and barely dodged it. _'Damn, I'm not as flexible as the others!' _he realized. He swung his legs overhead, completing the flip and launched at Gaara. He twisted for a kick, but the sand blocked that too. He jumped back and flashed through hand seals. "Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!" The massive ball of fire rushed at the sand, only to disappear just before impact.

"That won't work Naruto," Gaara said. "Part of controlling sand is controlling wind. By controlling the air just around the sand, I can create a vacuum around your fireball. With no oxygen, it dies."

Naruto growled and flashed through more hand signs. "Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!" A massive dragon of water, larger than Toshi's at full strength, burst through the floor three feet away from where the sandaime had repaired the floor.

Up in the stands the hokage was shaking, tears falling from his eyes in classic anime style while he cried about the unfairness of life.

Naruto directed his dragon to strike at the sand. He watched in horror as the sand wall absorbed it, the water just pouring to the ground underneath.

"Earth beats water Naruto," Gaara chided. He then launched several fists of sand at Naruto, who barely dodged. Gaara kept launching fists at Naruto, the appendages of sand getting closer each volley.

Naruto formed a cross hand seal. "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Roughly one hundred Narutos popped into existence. "How do you like this?" Naruto asked before the Clones all leapt at Gaara at once.

The sand shot spikes out, impaling all the clones as they reached him. "Very impressive Naruto. But it's over now." The sand caught Naruto in a hold, flowing over his body. "Sabaku Kyuu!" The sand surrounded all of Naruto except for his face. "Give up Naruto."

"Hey Gaara. You forgot something," Naruto said with a grin. "I never give up!" He started pushing against the sand.

"It's useless Naruto," Gaara said quietly as the sand started to cover Naruto's face. "You won't be able to get out of that attack. The sands are ever shifting, you can't force them away." As he finished speaking, the sand finished closing on Naruto.

XxXxX

In the sand coffin, Naruto was struggling against the sand. It was pushing in hard, keeping him from breathing. _'I can't lose like this.'_ Naruto thought. _'I can't lose. Not even to Gaara.'_

The blonde closed his eyes and started to gather chakra.

XxXxX

"Should I call it?" Hayate asked Gaara.

Gaara shook his head. "He's still actively fighting the sand.

"You will let me know when he's done, right?" Gekkou asked, suspicion evident in his voice.

"Of course I will," Gaara said. He turned to the cocoon. "He stopped."

"Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto is unable to continue. The winner is-"

XxXxX

Naruto had gathered a large amount of chakra. It was roughly equivalent to one Bijuu's tail of chakra. He snapped his eyes open with a smirk. Rather than the usual blue they usually were, they were glowing a lighter blue, the blue of chakra.

He snapped his arms and legs out wide, forcing the all of the chakra out of his body at once. He yelled out as he forced the chakra "Ninpou: Chakra Tsunami!"

XxXxX

Hayate was cut off from his announcement as a bright light poured out of the sand. Naruto's voice rang from the coffin "Ninpou: Chakra Tsunami!" Then, a massive wave of chakra burst in all directions. It knocked everyone back into a wall, even those that were anchoring themselves to the floor with chakra.

Gaara felt himself detached from his sand. He knew that the chakra wave Naruto just let off had temporarily rendered his sand incapable of receiving any chakra. He looked up and saw Naruto wearily staggering over to him. To his surprise, he couldn't move. Naruto's chakra must have entered into his chakra pools and paralyzed him.

Naruto shambled to Gaara wearily. With one hand he supported himself of the wall. He raised his other one and poked Gaara three times. Once on the forehead, once over the heart, and once in the stomach. "I win," he whispered to Gaara before falling over.

"Proctor," Gaara called out.

"Due to the conditions Naruto and I agreed upon before the match, Naruto has won," Gaara called out.

"Winner, Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto!" Hayate called out as Gaara carried Naruto up the steps. He was just starting to regain control of his sand.

Kakashi, Sasuke, and Hinata rushed over to Naruto. "Is he alright?" Kakashi asked.

"He seems fine," Hinata said, her Byakugan activated. "It seems his reserves are missing about a ninth, but his coils are full."

"I get it," Kakashi said.

"What?" Gaara, Sasuke, and Hinata asked.

"When he used that wave, he emptied his coils and that bit of his reserves. His coils are small compared to his reserves, so you didn't notice any extra missing," Kakashi said, getting nods from the three. "When he was done, the chakra started to fill his coils from his reserves, as it is supposed to. However that small gap of time between when it was emptied and it becoming full was enough to knock him unconscious."

"So he'll be fine?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah, he'll just end up sleeping for a couple of minutes.

"That long?" Naruto's voice asked from below them.

"Well, a couple of minutes from when they became full," Kakashi said, lending a hand to his student. Naruto gratefully accepted and was pulled to his feet as a worried Hinata wrapped around him.

"Baka!" Sasuke said, smacking Naruto upside the back of the head. "Don't worry us like that again."

"I won't," Naruto said. His eyes drifted to the board. "Hey Sasuke, it's your match."

"So it is. I'll win mine without fainting," he said before jumping off the railing.

Uchiha Sasuke VS Ika Detoshu

"So I get the honor of taking down the last Uchiha," Detoshu said imperiously.

"You might of, if your family wasn't named squid," Sasuke said.

"Oh Yeah! And your teammates name is fish cake!" Detoshu yelled out in fury, earning a short yell from Naruto.

"No, my adopted brothers name is maelstrom," Sasuke corrected. This got Naruto to cheer for Sasuke. "To everyone but me. I'm the only one that can call him fish cake."

Naruto leaned over depressed, a pout on his face causing Hinata to giggle. "You'll still be maelstrom to me Naruto-kun," she assured him.

"Really?" Naruto asked her.

"Shut up fish cake, we're trying to watch a fight," Kakashi said jokingly.

'_You are so getting pranked after this,' _Naruto thought narrowing his eyes at his sensei.

"You can't beat me Uchiha," Detoshu said. "I'm water affinity, and you are fire. It's in my nature to win.

' _I didn't want to ever use _**that **_move,' _Sasuke thought to himself as he dodged a water missile that was launched out of another new hole, _'but desperate times call for desperate measures.' _

"See?" Detoshu yelled. "All you can do is dodge and run!"

"Sharingan!" Sasuke called out, activating his family's doujutsu. He started to charge at the Kiri nin.

"So you see me as a threat?" Detoshu said. "You pretty eyes aren't going to help you out in this!"

To his surprise, Sasuke dodged all of the rapidly approaching bullets of water. The Uchiha slid around the boy, getting behind him, while sending a clone to distract him from the front. Sasuke's hands formed the tora seal.

Everyone in the crowds gasped except for team 7 and Anko.

"Konohagakure Taijutsu Ougi: Sennen Goroshi!"

The Kiri nin was sent skyward, only to be blocked by the ceiling. He fell back to the ground, falling through the hole created by his suiton jutsu. When he reached the water, he started flailing. "Help me! I can't swim! I don't know how to do the water walking technique! I surrender, just get me-" his words were cut off as he sank underwater.

Sasuke sweat dropped and pulled out a rope and lowered in to where the nin was. Shortly after it submerged, the Uchiha felt someone grab the rope. He pulled swiftly up and set the Kiri nin on the ground beside him. "What kind of shinobi from Kiri doesn't know how to swim?"

Detoshu grinned sheepishly. "This one." With that he stood up and proceeded to the nearest stair case.

"Detoshu forfeits. The winner is Uchiha Sasuke!" Hayate yelled out.

Kaminari no Karui Vs Hyuuga Uzumaki Namikaze Hinata

"Hinata-sama," Neji said. "I know that this must be a frightening match, but good luck."

"Thank you Neji-nii-san," Hinata said.

"So I get to fight a Hyuuga?"Karui said. "How exciting."

"Byakugan!"Hinata yelled, activating her doujutsu.

Karui drew her blade. As soon as Hayate gave the signal to begin, she charged. She swiped at Hinata, who ducked under the blow and jabbed her arm twice. "Itai! That hurt!"

Hinata didn't say anything as she changed her chakra's pulse rates frequently. She gave a grin. When Karui charged again, she ducked and launched a blow at the sword. Her eyes had come across a weak point in the blade, and she had attacked it. The blade snapped in half where she hit it.

Karui stared at her blade in shock. As such, the dark skinned red head never saw the finger that touched her forehead, knocking her unconscious.

"Kaminari no Karui is unable to continue. The winner is Hyuuga Uzumaki Namikaze Hinata!" Hayate said, before gasping for air. She had a long name after all.

"Great job Hinata-sama," Neji said as Hinata came up the stairs. "You're getting stronger. What was with the pulsing of your chakra."

Hinata looked around to make sure no one was listening. She leaned in close to Neji's ear and whispered, "Five."

Neji nodded in understanding. He saw his name on the board for the last fight.

Yamakumo Omoi Vs Hyuuga Neji

"Good luck Neji-nii-san," Hinata said as the Hyuuga branch member strode down the stairs.

"Fate dictates you lose today," Neji said calmly.

"What if fate doesn't exist?" Omoi asked. He had dark skin and short spiky white hair. He wore a light grey hoodie with black pants. Across his back was a Katana with a white and red grip, similar to Karui's, but of a much better creation. In his mouth was a sucker. "What if you've been fighting for absolutely nothing this whole time?"

Both boys stood still, hands on their chins as they contemplated this. Suddenly Omoi, and in the stands his teammates, shuddered. Appearing in a quick burst of electricity a large man with many swords appeared in the stands behind Samui and Karui.

"Everyone stay calm ya see, it's me, the mighty Kirabi!" the man somewhat sang in a deep voice.

"Kirabi-sensei, shut up," Samui said.

"No can do, little Samu," the large dark man said. "The bee's gotta rap, or he'll fall into tha trap."

"Anyway," Hayate said, getting everyone's attention. "Hajime!"

Neji and Omoi stood still for a full minute before they realized they were supposed to be fighting. They quickly jumped into taijutsu stances. "You're not going to use your blade?" Neji asked.

"If I did, it might get broken like my teammates," Omoi responded. "It'll be strictly strictly no kenjutsu."

"Have it your way," Neji said before launching a flurry of jabs at the Kumo nin.

"Raiton: Rairyuu Endan no Jutsu!" Omoi yelled. A large dragon of lightning formed from the screen on the board, frying the large potential television. The Dragon launched itself at Neji, who mostly dodged it.

Neji grabbed his numb left arm. "So you use lightning to paralyze your opponent."

"It works," Omoi shrugged. "Suiton: Teppoudama!" A bullet shot out of the ground and hit Neji in the stomach, sending him flying. "Ranton: Raiden no Kaminari!" A single bolt of lightning struck Neji in his chest, sending him flying to the ground. Omoi walked over to him. "You alright?"

"I'm alive," Neji said. "But I can't move."

"It'll wear off in a couple of days," Omoi told him.

Hayate nodded. "Hyuuga Neji is unable to continue. Winner is Yamakumo Omoi. Will all winners come down to the floor."

After the twelve individuals were lined up in the order they had fought, Anko grabbed a box and proceeded to the first individual. "You will each take one piece of paper. You will not look at it until I tell you to, or I'll feed you to my snakes," Anko threatened. Then she stared passing out the papers. When she was done, she grabbed a clipboard. "Alright, tell me your color."

Zaku opened his paper. "Orange."

Samui , "Red."

Shino, "Yellow."

Lee, "Green!"

Anko smacked the spandex wearing genin over the head. "Indoor voice when I'm standing next to you!"

"Hai, Anko-san," Lee said in a normal voice, causing all of the Konoha nin to stare.

Kin, "Green."

Shikamaru, "Blue."

Toshi, "Blue."

Temari, "Yellow."

Naruto, "I got orange Anko-nee-chan!"

Anko rolled her eyes and proceeded to the next in line.

Sasuke, "I have red."

Hinata, "Purple Anko-san."

Omoi, "Purple."

Anko strode up to the platform where all the higher ranking individuals were standing. "Alright, here's how it is:

Team 1, Orange: Abumi Zaku and Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto

Team 2, Blue: Aburame Shino and Terumi Toshi

Team 3, Red: Yama no Samui and Uchiha Sasuke

Team 4, Green: Rock Lee and Tsuchi Kin

Team 5, Yellow: Nara Shikamaru and Sabaku no Temari

Team 6, Purple: Hyuuga Uzumaki Namikaze Hinata and Yamakumo Omoi.

You will be fighting in matches against whatever we feel like. It might be animals, other ninja, or even the other teams. The finals will be in one month. Get to know your partner until then, and try to get stronger. Good luck, and have a safe trip back through the forest!" Everyone turned to go. "I need to speak with Team 7. Your partners can wait either in here or outside the door."

As Team 7 and their partners stayed behind everyone left. "What do you think this is about?" Sasuke asked.

"I think I have an idea," Naruto said.

"So," Anko said with a all too sweet smile, "mind telling me why we had so many fake scrolls turn up here? Hmm?"


	34. Let the training begin

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

AN: Okay readers, except for a few of you, you seem to have forgotten the golden rule of fanfiction. So today before story time, we are going over the three R's. Read, Review, Resume. First you read a chapter, then you post a review, and then you resume reading either another chapter or go to a new story if the chapter is the last one. Got all that? Good, because there is going to be a test at the end of this chapter. It's strictly pass or fail. Well, here's the story.

Zaku, Omoi, Samui, and Kakashi watched in amusement as Anko chased the three genin of Team 7 around the small training ground they were escorted to. The most amusing part was that the genin were covered in weights, blindfolded, with earplugs. In Hinata and Sasuke's cases they had special blindfolds that prevented the channeling of chakra to their eyes. They all had their chakra temporarily sealed so they couldn't escape too easily.

The only one who seemed to be faring well was Naruto. He was able to dodge Anko and her snakes, much to her frustration. "Why do you keep dodging? WHY?" she roared as she sent another wave of snakes out.

"That's for me know, and you to find out," Naruto grinned.

Anko stared at the boy and saw his nostrils twitching as he dodged the snakes. _'Got you gaki!'_

She had the snakes herd him in a certain direction, before surrounding him. "You're going to have to do better than that," Naruto said. As the snakes lunged at him he jumped in the air, hitting his head on a low hanging branch. He fell to the ground before the snakes covered him.

"Is he going to be okay?" Zaku asked.

"He'll be fine," Kakashi said. "I think."

"Of course he'll be fine. He has a special antidote that cures all poisons," Anko said.

"Really?" Samui asked. "That sort of thing would make a fortune in the other nations.

"It's a Kekkei Genkai," Kakashi said.

"I've never heard of one like that," Omoi said.

"It's new," both Kakashi and Anko said at the same time.

Just then Naruto burst out of the snake pile screaming, "I don't care if you are Anko-nee-chan's summons! You are not going there!" Everyone looked confused until they saw four snakes attempting to climb into his pants. "We're really sorry Anko-nee-chan! Just call these snakes off!"

"Please!" Sasuke and Hinata said with a strange look on their faces.

"What are you two doing?" Anko asked.

"Puppy dog eyes technique," Hinata said.

"That only works if the person you're using it on can see your eyes," Kakashi said.

"I can't believe these guys are the ones that one their matches," Omoi whispered to Samui. He fell over unconscious when Naruto's foot landed down on his head.

"I thought you had earplugs in," Samui said.

"I do," Naruto grinned. "But I have senses that rival an Inuzuka's companion."

"Is that right?" Anko asked evilly.

Naruto started backing up. "Igottago,mydad's callingmehomefordinner!BYE!"

Naruto turned and ran, crashing into rocks and trees. "You know, somehow I think that he's inflicting more damage to himself than you were going to," Kakashi said.

"I think you're right," Anko said. "Well kids, you can take your punishment gear off and go home now."

"Thank Kami!" Sasuke said as he ditched the gear. He vanished as soon as it was off.

"Anko-san, I have a question," Hinata said.

"Go ahead," Anko said.

"I thought you and Kakashi sensei were dating, but you haven't been around him lately," Hinata said. "Why not?"

"We broke up… three days ago," Anko asked Kakashi.

"Technically, but we were still in the same bed until the next morning," Kakashi said.

"Why did you two do that?" Hinata asked.

"It just wasn't working out," Kakashi answered.

"But were still _good _friends," Anko said with a strange tone in her voice.

"Okay, I'll see you around," Hinata said. She turned to the three genin who were partnered with her and her team. "Meet us here at five tomorrow morning. Don't be late." With that done, the quiet girl ran off to find Naruto.

"Well, I guess I'll see you guys later then," Zaku said, walking off. "Ja."

"What if something happens to them before tomorrow," Omoi asked Samui. "And then we get blamed for it. And then Raikage-sama banishes us and makes us missing nin?"

Samui shook her head. "Let's go Omoi, my shoulders are starting to ache."

XxXxX

The next day found the three partners at the same training ground at the aforementioned time. They were pleased to see that their partners were on time, seeing as the chronic tardiness of Kakashi was legendary around the elemental nations.

Naruto was the first one to speak. "We are each going to go to a different area to train. Consider yourselves lucky. Most ninja don't get to see the part of Konoha you are about to."

"Very well," Samui said, walking to Sasuke. "What shall be training in?"

"This exam will most likely test teamwork," Sasuke said. "So that is what we're going to work on."

"How will we do that?" Zaku asked.

"My father is going to train us," Naruto said. "My mother will train Hinata's team, and Zabuza-sensei will be training Sasuke."

"Well then," Hinata said. "Let's get to work."

"What if something happens to us?" Omoi asked thoughtfully. "What if we get injured and can't get to the hospital? What if we die?"

Hinata grinned evilly, scaring her teammates. "If we die, then I'll be sure to kick your ass in the afterlife." She grabbed her partner and dragged him off in the direction of the Namikaze estates.

Naruto and Sasuke shared a look. "That was scary," Sasuke said.

"Think it might be because he's a Kumo ninja?" Naruto asked.

"It's possible," Sasuke agreed, right before a massive blade fell over his head. Luckily, his head went into a hole in the blade. Unluckily, Zabuza moved his sword ever so slightly and picked Sasuke up by it.

"Okay blondie, follow the struggling emo to your destination," the former Kiri nin said as he walked off.

"Well, we go this way," Naruto said to his current teammate. "Let's hope Orochimaru didn't botch your skills too bad."

"How do you know of him?" Zaku demanded, a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"I've got a bug on the inside," Naruto said. "Something wrong? You look like your distraught."

"It's something about the invasion," Zaku said.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Orochimaru thinks that Kin and I will lose," the Oto nin said. "When we do, he plans on using our bodies in his rebirth technique. Using this technique he will raise The first and second Hokage. He was also planning on raising the fourth, but you took care of that. In order to do so, he has to sacrifice a living human."

"Training can wait," Naruto said, grabbing Zaku's arm. "We're going to see Jiji."

"What can your grandfather do about this?" Zaku asked, as he was dragged to the hokage tower.

"Jiji is the hokage. He's not really my Jiji, but he helped raise me until I got my parents," Naruto said.

XxXxX

Two hours later, Zaku and Naruto were sitting in Sarutobi's office with Minato, Kyuubi, Gaara, Kabuto, a man with long white hair that was introduced as Jiraiya 'The Great Toad Sage Of Mt. Myobokuzan', and the head of Anbu, a stoic man in a Tora mask. From what they could see, he had brown hair and well defined muscles.

"Anything else?" Hiruzen asked Zaku.

"There is one thing," Zaku said. "Kin and I. After this I won't be able to return to Oto to protect her. I want her here to keep her safe."

'_It seems like Konoha is becoming a refuge for all sorts of refugees and missing nin,' _Sarutobi thought. With a sigh he said, "She can stay but, as per usual, there will be a three month probation before either of you will be able to take any missions for outside the village." Zaku nodded. "And what of your other teammate?"

"Dosu is blindly loyal to Orochimaru," Zaku said. "He would gladly give his life if it meant that Orochimaru could draw one more breath." Zaku scoffed. "As if that serpent would let himself be forced into a position that would kill him."

"I'm going to have to agree with you on that one," Hiruzen said.

"Why are you so protective of your female teammate?" Minato asked.

"I had snuck into Orochimaru's lab. There I found blood tests and notes. And several documents from our village. It turns out that Kin is my cousin on my father's side, her mother's," Zaku said.

"Well, if that is all, you may go," Hiruzen said.

As everyone turned to leave, Naruto ran to Jiraiya's side. "You're the author of the Icha Icha books, right?" he asked.

"I am," Jiraiya said proudly.

"Could I get you to autograph this one, the premium collector's gold edition?" Naruto asked, holding up the book like a sacred object. To him, it probably was.

"Of course, anything for a fan!" Jiraiya said heartily.

"Don't let your mom catch you with that," Minato warned. "She will confiscate it."

"Anti-pervert. Got it," Naruto said.

"Actually, she's a mega pervert. Worse than Jiraiya-sensei here," Minato said, clapping a hand on Jiraiya's shoulder.

"Jiraiya-sama was your sensei?" Naruto asked. Minato nodded. "That is so cool!"

"Right, well anyway we need to get to your training," Minato said.

"Ooh, ooh!" Jiraiya started flailing. "I wanna help, let me help! Please let me help. Pleeeeeeaase?"

"Okay, you can help," Minato said.

"All right kid, give me a list of skills," Jiraiya said to Naruto.

"Okay. A variation of the henge, called Orioke no Jutsu, Kage Bunshin, Katon: Karyuu endan, Katon: Ryuka, Katon: Goukakyu, Suiton: Suiryuudan, Suiton: Mizu Bunshin, Suiton: Teppoudama, Fuuton: Daitoppa, Kage Shuriken, and Doton: Doryuuheki."

"That's a lot to learn in a month kid," Jiraiya said.

"That's what I know right now," Naruto said, causing several jaws to drop, Minato's included.

Jiraiya recovered quickly. "How's about signing the toad summoning contract?"

"Kyuu, can I sign more than one summoning contract?" Naruto asked.

Kyuubi grinned. "The kitsune contract is a special one that doesn't take the place of a regular contract. Unless you try to go with inu, okami, or hebi. So, yeah, you can do toads."

"I wasn't aware that there was a kitsune contract," Minato said. By now, the group that was going for training was at the small training ground behind the Hokage Tower.

"It was made recently," Kyuubi said.

"How recently?" Jiraiya asked.

"Four years or so ago," Kyuubi said thoughtfully.

Something clicked in Naruto's mind, and his fist caught Kyuubi in the jaw, to the horror of Minato and Jiraiya. Zaku wasn't up to date, he was just confused.

"Oi, what was that for?" Kyuubi asked angrily.

"That was for threatening Hinata back then," Naruto said calmly.

"It's not my fault I was pissed off," Kyuubi protested. "You try being locked in a dull genius for eleven years without reprieve. I couldn't even go to sleep!"

"What do you mean dull genius?" Minato asked.

"Kid's smart. Too damn smart, but has trouble thinking for himself," Kyuubi said.

"Well we'll be fixing that," Minato promised. "I won't teach him the Hiraishin until he can."

"How's about the Rasengan?" Kyuubi asked.

"Perfect," Minato and Jiraiya grinned mischievously.

"We have balloons at the house," the older blonde said.

"I saw rubber balls at the market," Jiraiya said.

The two older men took off, leaving Zaku and Naruto alone with Kyuubi, who pulled out a storage scroll. When he unsealed it, there were two large crates. One with balloons, and one with rubber balls. "Naruto-kun, I will teach you the rasengan the easy way, rather than how they were going to."

"And what will I be doing?" Zaku asked. Kyuubi looked at him before handing him a scroll of futon ninjutsu. "I will be right over there.

"So what's this easy way of learning the Rasengan?" Naruto asked.

"First we'll work on power," Kyuubi said. He handed Naruto a rubber ball. "Do you remember when you used the Chakra Tsunami in the preliminaries?" Naruto nodded. "You're going to do that on a smaller scale here, in the ball instead of in you."

Naruto started channeling chakra into the ball. When he felt that he had enough, he forced it out. To no effect.

"You have to gather it all in a single, miniscule spot," Kyuubi said. "Preferably in the very center. And you need more chakra than you put in the first time. About six times more should do it."

Following Kyuubi's instruction, Naruto got the ball to pop. He was soaked in sweat, but he did it. The next thing he knew, Kyuubi placed a water balloon in his hand. "You have to spin your chakra in multiple directions at the same time. Some people, like Jiraiya and your father, use several elipses to push the balloon in several spots. I find it easier to visualize the chakra as a single line, always changing directions, but always pushing out."

Naruto held the balloon in his hand for a moment. Then he grinned. He held the balloon at arms length. In less than two seconds the balloon burst, spattering water all over Kyuubi. At the questioning look, Naruto explained, "I combined the two ideas. Rather than a single thread of chakra, I made nine, all doing the same thing as the one you visualize."

"Good," Kyuubi said. "Now, you need to combine the two steps." He tossed Naruto another rubber ball. "Pop it using both at the same time. When you're finished, we'll get to containing the sphere without popping the ball. Then we'll go to the same with the water balloon."

XxXxX

Six hours later Jiraiya and Minato meet up at the path to the training grounds. "I couldn't find the balloons," Minato said, lowering his head.

"I couldn't find any rubber balls," Jiraiya said, also lowering his head.

"Rasengan!" two voices called out.

The shout of the technique, along with the cracking of a tree, caused both men to look off to the side. They saw a tree falling right at them. They each leapt to one side of the falling obstruction. When they looked at the person responsible, they saw both Naruto and Kyuubi. The pair looked at the older men, then at each other, before looking at the older men.

They pointed at each other at the same time. "He did it!"

"How… you… how?" Minato asked.

"He did well under my tutelage," Kyuubi said. "But there was only so much we could do in six hours. So we had to go to desperate measures."

"Desperate measures?" Jiraiya asked.

"We took Naru-chan," Naruto punched Kyuubi in the side, "into his mindscape where time flows differently," Kyuubi said with a cheeky grin.

"How much differently?" Jiraiya asked.

"Here, three hours. There, three days," Naruto shuddered.

"So you took three days to learn the rasengan?" Minato asked.

"Technically one day," Kyuubi said.

"It would have been sooner if he had let me use Kage Bunshin," Naruto grumbled.

Minato and Jiraiya shared a look. Naruto would be learning much this month. They would guarantee it.


	35. Intermission 4or whatever it is now

Naruto was running as fast as his young legs would carry him. He was being chased by a mob. And this time, they were pissed.

"There he is, get him!" one man cried.

Naruto tripped over a rock, but he rolled with it and popped back on his feet. He turned a corner in the alley way, then another. He took five more turns before he stopped. It was a dead end. Maybe if he went back and-

"Finally, we got you," the man said with a grin while the mob stood behind him with evil expressions on their faces.

There was only one thing going through Naruto's head at that point in time. _'Fuck!' _

A crowd of ninja, including ANBU, gathered on the rooftops to watch the event. Two members of the mob came forward and grabbed Naruto's arms, holding him in place.

Naruto looked up, catching sight of an old man in a white and red robe with a triangular hat. "Oji-san! Help me, please!"

The hokage shook his head. "There is nothing I can do now Naruto-kun. You brought this on yourself."

Two more mobsters, one the leader of the group, approached Naruto with a large barrel. They tipped the barrel over, pouring its contents all over the boy. Naruto yelped as he was drenched in ice cold water.

The man turned to the mob victoriously. "We got him! We have done it!" The mob let out a cheer and went off to celebrate their victory over the blonde.

Uchiha Itachi appeared next to Naruto as the other ninja started to leave. "Come on kid, let's go get some ramen," the Itachi said, slapping Naruto on his shoulder.

"Fine," Naruto said, "but you're paying."

All across Konoha, the villagers celebrated the catching of the prankster at long last. Then they rubbed it in the face of the ANBU who had failed repeatedly.


	36. Finals, first half

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any affiliated characters, places, or objects.

AN: Sorry it took so long for the update, I changed up the story from its original form when I started posting and it majorly changed some of the story line. Anyway, my reviews are at the 120's now. 122 as of this typing. My goal is to get to at least 127 this chapter, but I won't say no to more. Hint hint.

XxXxX

It had been a long month. After Minato and Jiraiya were certain that Naruto was proficient in his Rasengan, they allowed him to sign the toad summoning scroll. The first toad he summoned was a small orange toad with purple markings. He had introduced himself as Gamakichi, the son of Gamabunta the boss toad. After he was done with his introduction, he promptly asked for some snacks.

The other three men were a little frightened when Naruto summoned his personal foxes, Youkou and Yorui. However, the toad and the foxes got along well. Then Naruto decided it was time to summon a larger toad. Minato and Jiraiya agreed.

When Naruto put a little too much chakra into the summoning, he accidentally summoned the boss toad. Jiraiya had told him specifically that he was not ready to summon Gamabunta. It was at this point that Jiraiya literally shit himself.

However, with Minato there, they were able to keep Gamabunta from annihilating Jiraiya and Naruto. One from past mistakes and one from his loud brash attitude. After settling down to have some sake with the adults, Naruto and Zaku not being old enough, Gamabunta was actually pleasantly surprised that his newest summoner was also holder of the fox contract. The toads and foxes were great allies in the summon world. The entire this was happening, Youkou and Yorui were playing with Gamakichi.

Shortly afterwards, Naruto allowed Zaku to sign the fox contract. Minato and Jiraiya had talked with Gamabunta and decided on a training regime. Unfortunately for the two boys, it was the toughest training they had ever gone through. And worst of all, the boss summons were to assist in the training.

A month later finds the two boys standing in the chuunin exam arena. As of yet, they were the only ones present. However the crowd was already starting to fill in the seats.

XxXxX

"Hey Zaku, want to play a card game while we wait?" Naruto asked.

"Sure we ain't got anything better to do for now," Zaku replied.

As the boys sat down to play, the red and purple teams showed up. They took a seat around in a large circle while Naruto dealt the cards. "We'll go clock wise, starting with Omoi," Naruto said.

"What if we get paper cuts and can't fight properly and we lose our fights?" the white haired boy asked, rolling his sucker around in his mouth.

"If it happens," Zaku said seriously, "then we'll avenge your loss."

"Nani?" Omoi asked. He shook his head and looked at his hand of cards. "Do you have any sevens Uchiha?"

"Go fish," Sasuke said. Omoi went to draw a card and got a paper cut. "We'll avenge you," Sasuke said with a smirk.

"All right all of you," a voice said. "Put your cards away and stand in formation. It's almost time to begin."

The group looked up to see Hayate standing with another jounin. He had shoulder length brown hair, his hitai-ate was tied on as a bandana, but backwards. In his mouth was a slightly thicker than usual senbon. Almost immediately the cards were gone and the chuunin hopefuls were standing in a formation. Each rank contained four people. The first two teams in the front, the last two teams in the rear.

Up in the stands, the Kage of each nation that had a team pass were filing into the Kage booth. The Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen was in the center. On his left were the Raikage and Mizukage. On his right were the Kazekage and the Otokage. Once the other Kage were seated, the hokage walked to the edge of the booth.

"Lords and Ladies of the elemental nations, welcome to the Konoha chuunin exam finals!" The crowd started cheering wildly. "Please watch as these brave hopefuls fight for honor. Both for themselves, and for their country! Without further ado, let the exams commence!"

"Will all teams, except for orange team please leave the arena, and proceed to the competitor's booth?" Genma asked.

As soon as Naruto and Zaku were the only contenders on the field, Hayate turned to them. "The first rounds you will fight against twelve bandits. If they win, they gain freedom from jail, if they lose, they're either dead, or they go back to prison."

"Are both competitors ready?" Genma asked. Both boys nodded. With a slash of his hand, a section of the wall dropped and twelve bandits charged at the boys, armed with various weapons. Mostly clubs and swords. In the back, there were two larger bandits. One had a massive hammer, the other had a sword almost as large as the boys fighting him.

"How do you want to take them out?" Naruto asked. "Collaboration?"

Zaku grinned and held out his arms. "Zankuha!"

Naruto flashed through some hand seals, ending on tora. "Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

The two attacks combined, shooting out larger and faster than either of the two original attacks. The massive fire ball hit the first ten bandits, turning them to ash in seconds. The larger two bandits had dodged at the last second.

"I'll get the one with the zanbatou," Naruto said. "I always wanted a sword like that."

"Hammer guy will be a push over for me," Zaku said thoughtfully. He grinned. "Let's go!"

The two boys launched at the two massive bandits. The giant men seemed to be on the same frequency, because they both went for a vertical slam with their weapons. Both boys dodged.

Zaku flipped back from the hammer blow. Then he jumped onto the hammer and ran up the handle before twisting and launching a kick at the big man's face. The man let go of his hammer with one hand, and caught Zaku's foot.

"Bad move big guy!" Zaku smirked, holding both hands out at the bandits face. "Zankyokukuuha!"

The massive blast sliced deep into the man's face and neck, killing him instantly. The blood was blown away from the body, leaving Zaku relatively clean. After getting out of the man's grip, he went over to the hammer, only to find out it was both too big and too heavy for him. With a shrug, he turned to watch Naruto's fight.

Naruto rolled out of the way of the sword slice that was launched at the beginning of the battle. He brought his legs underneath him, tensed for maximum spring action, and launched himself at the bandit's arm. In the boy's hand appeared a blue orb. With a shout of "Rasengan!" Naruto slammed the ball into the bandits arm, releasing his containment field. This allowed the energy to burst out and injure the man's arm. Unfortunately for Naruto, the injury was small relative to his size. On the upside, he was forced to drop his sword.

Naruto grinned and leapt for the sword, grabbing it at the same time as the bandit. "So that's how you want to play," the bandit smirked. The massive man launched a kick at the boy's stomach. Naruto dodged by flipping back several time.

"Fine then," Naruto said, drawing his sword that was forged by the three legendary smiths. "I'll play!" Naruto charged forward, spinning around another smashing blow. He started launching a flurry of blows, each cutting deep into the bandits flesh. For his final blow, Naruto leapt high into the air, and channeled all of the elemental chakra he could into the katana. The blade turned black, but gave off several colors of light.

He slammed his katana to the ground, similar to the bandit he was fighting. There was a bright flash that blinded almost everyone before the sound of an explosion. When the smoke cleared, there was no bandit, no blood, and no gore. The only thing left in the decent sized crater was Naruto holding his perfectly fine katana in one hand, and holding the charred broken zanbatou in the other.

"DAMMIT!" Naruto shouted dropping the fragment of the zanbatou. He stormed out of the crater pouting.

"Winner, orange team!" Hayate yelled, causing the crowds to cheer. "Will team 1 proceed to the competitors' booth, and team 2 proceed to the arena floor?"

Shino and Toshi and made their way to arena via bug and mizu shunshin respectively. There, Genma explained the rules to them, just as he had with team one. When they signified they were ready, Hayate began the match.

"Terumi-san, I will take the left half," Shino said.

"Very well Aburame-san," Toshi smirked. "Let's see who can win first."

Shino sent his bugs out, to swarm the bandits, as Toshi used the water dragon technique to blast his opponents. They finished at, relatively, the same time. The only difference was that Shino's six were still alive.

"Will red team please come to the arena floor?" Hayate asked.

Up in the competitors' booth, Naruto smirked at Sasuke. "Good luck."

"I don't need luck," Sasuke shot back with a smirk of his own. "But I'll take it all the same." Rather than taking the stairs, Sasuke jumped over the railing to the ground below, Samui walking out of the normal exit. Which, by the way, very few ninja ever use.

After Hayate began the match, Samui unsheathed her tanto, and Sasuke pulled out a scroll. Quickly wiping his blood over the seal, he released a zanbatou roughly as long as he was tall. He smirked when he heard Naruto's cries of unfair play.

The bandits didn't stand a chance against the whirling blades of Red team.

"Will green team please report to the field?" Hayate called.

After the rules were explained to them and Hayate began the match, Lee turned to Kin. "Are you ready Kin-chan?"

"Hai!" Kin said with a small blush. She started tossing her belled senbon out into the bandits' ranks. Using her Genjutsu, she confused them as Lee, who was wearing earplugs, decimated their ranks with taijutsu.

"Will yellow team please report to the arena floor?"

Shikamaru turned to Temari. "The next group of bandits will be released by the tree." Temari nodded in understanding.

As soon as the match began, the bandits rushed the field, only to be stopped shortly near the tree. They couldn't look down to see, but all their shadows were connected to each others, and to the shadow of the tree where Shikamaru was.

Temari grinned and blasted the bandits into the wall, knocking all of them unconscious.

In the Kage booth

"You know, I think the only ones trying to show off their skills are the orange and red teams," Orochimaru said.

The other Kage grimaced as they looked at him, but nodded in agreement. Due to the laws set down in the elemental nations, they could not attack Orochimaru in anyway by his appearance in Konoha. By allowing his team to participate in the exams, the other Kage acknowledged that he was also a Kage, and therefore had diplomatic immunity.

"Perhaps Otokage-dono," E, the Raikage said, "but the others show another level of skill in dispatching the enemy as quickly.

"Be that as it may," Mei, the Mizukage responded, "the nobles who are in attendance came to see a show, and so far only orange and red teams have given that."

"Still," Hiruzen said, "All have shown skill and power. And somewhat of discretion."

"Your blonde boy in the orange team showed discretion how exactly?" the Arano, the Kazekage asked.

"I saw him during his training. There were many more destructive moves that he could have used," Hiruzen said.

"He did use the Rasengan," Orochimaru said. "He is his father's son."

"So your blond is the son of the Yondaime," E asked.

"He is," Hiruzen said.

"Interesting," Mei said. "Does he not fall under the CRA?"

"No, he doesn't," one of Hiruzen's body guards said, saving the hokage from answering. He lowered his hood to reveal his face, as the other body guard did so as well. The newly revealed Minato and Kushina smiled at the other Kage.

"You are supposed to be dead," E said.

"I'm sure that Shinigami-sama is missing the fact that I'm not in his stomach right now," Minato said thoughtfully. He smiled again. "Then again, I'm probably a good source of indigestion so he spit me out!" Everyone in the Kage booth sweat dropped. "Anyway, I will take up the hokage mantle again after the exams are over."

Two people were not listening to Minato's rant, however. Mei and Kushina were staring at each other as if they had seen a ghost. Kushina had been glaring at Orochimaru the entire time, so had not been looking at the other Kage until recently.

Without warning the two redheads squealed and leapt at each other, giving each other a tight hug. Most of the people in the Kage booth got a severe nosebleed.

"What's with them?" Orochimaru asked.

"Kushina-chan here is my cousin on my mother's side," Mei said with a smile. "I had thought she died in the Kyuubi attack, but here she is alive and well."

"And you are the Mizukage now," Kushina said with a megawatt smile. "Who would have guessed?"

"So you're not going to be hokage then after all?" Mei asked Kushina.

"After seeing the amounts of paperwork, I'm content to let others have the position," Kushina said, causing everyone of the Kage, minus Orochimaru and E to become depressed.

"I just have my subordinates do my paper work," Mei said cheerfully.

"I have bunshin do mine," Orochimaru said.

"Paperwork doesn't exist in Kumo," E said.

"I think Raikage-sama gets the trophy," Minato said out loud, causing the other kage to laugh.

On the arena floor

"Will the purple team please report to the arena floor?"

Hinata and Omoi both jumped over the railing.

The two charged into their bandits, almost as if they were dancing. Omoi using his sword and some raiton techniques, Hinata using her clans Jyuuken style.

The bandits were dispatched in a relatively quick manner.

"Alright, for the second matches the teams have changed up. There are now four teams of three people each," Hayate announced. "Team one is orange team and Terumi Toshi. Team 2 is red team and Aburame Shino. Team 3 is green team and Sabaku no Temari. And finally, team 4 is purple team and Nara Shikamaru. Will team one please report to the field?"

As soon as the three boys landed in the field, Genma turned to them. "For this set of rounds, each team is to fight one jounin of Konohagakure." The three nodded.

"Team one versus Jounin Tenzou! Begin!"

In the Kage booth

"Why Tenzou?" Orochimaru asked.

"It's because of his mokuton abilities," Hiruzen said.

"Because Naruto-kun is a jinchuuriki?" Orochimaru asked, causing the other three foreign Kage's eyes to widen.

"Former jinchuuriki," yet another new voice answered. The Kage turned around to see a man with short red hair and crimson eyes.

"Hello Kyuu-kun," Hiruzen said.

"Who is this?" Orochimaru asked.

"My name has been forgotten long ago, but my friends call me Kyuu, though you may know me as Kyuubi no youko or Kyuubi no Kitsune. Nice to meet you!" Kyuubi said cheerfully.

The other Kage were doing a great imitation of a group of fish. "It's rude to stare," Hiruzen said. The other Kage turned their attention to the arena, trying to forget that there was a being capable of destruction on a scale that was unfathomable to the human mind sitting right behind them.

On the arena floor

"Yo," Tenzou said, "Don't hold back on me now. I can handle whatever you throw at me."

"Can we have a minute to discuss a plan?" Naruto asked.

Everyone watching the match was stunned that the blonde would ask something like that. To humor them, Tenzou accepted. After all, this was only a test to allow them to show their skills. "You have five minutes."

"Great, thanks!" Naruto yelled before turning to his group.

"You must be god," Zaku said. "For only a god could get an enemy to allow them to have time to plan!"

In Amegakure, an orange haired man with many piercings and his red headed controller sneezed.

"Okay, what I'm going to do is make a large pit in the ground and trap him in it," Naruto said. "Zaku you blast him into the pit with your Zankuha attack. Toshi, you fill the pit with water. I will then use a simple raiton attack to knock him unconscious."

"Why are we following your plan?" Toshi asked. He obviously had issues with following orders.

"Do you have a better plan?" Naruto asked.

"Not really, no," Toshi said as Zaku smirked.

"Then we'll go with mine," Naruto said.

"Okay, but first, does anyone know any genjutsu?" Zaku asked.

"I know one, but I need a lot of water to do it," Toshi said.

"You know, there is a river on the other side of that wall over there," Naruto said, pointing to the eastern side of the circular wall enclosing the arena. "Just be careful not to hit any spectators too hard."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," Toshi said. "You two distract him while I get water."

"Alright let's go," Zaku said. Both he and Naruto charged at Tenzou.

Tenzou smirked. "Doton: Dai-Doryuuheki!" A massive wall rose from the ground, elevating Tenzou at least thirty feet into the air. "Suiton: Takinami o Kowashi no Jutsu!"

With a small earth quake, a hole erupted into a large waterfall near the top of the earthen wall. The waterfall rocketed waves of water at the boys before pouring into a hole in the ground. The waterfall, however kept pouring.

'_Actually, this might work better than the river,' _Toshi thought for a moment. "Kirigakure Genjutsu Ougi: Ame o Gensou Rensa." Toshi whispered under his breath. The water rose into the air and started raining slowly around Tenzou, zipping past him in every direction.

Eventually the torrent stopped, but you could still see the rain in the reflection of Tenzou's eyes. He started moving as if he were in the middle of a taijutsu fight.

"Doton: Fuka Ana!" Naruto yelled out, causing a massive hole to open in the ground behind the Jounin.

"Zankuha!" Zaku yelled out, with one arm outstretched. The air from his tube blasting the Jounin into the pit.

"Suiton: Suiryuudan!" Toshi yelled out, a massive dragon crashing into the pit.

"Raiton: Denki Myaku!" Naruto yelled, a small pulse of electricity crashing into the water.

The boys, and the proctors, went to the edge of the pit. They looked down to see a stumbling Tenzou and a cracked Moku Bunshin.

"I, uh, can't seem to gather anymore chakra right now," Tenzou said. "I used the last of it on the substitution with my Moku Bunshin that I made in the conveniently placed hole behind me."

As he said this, the members of team one sweat dropped.

"I see," Genma said. "Well, Hayate?"

"Oh, right. The winner are Team one! Will team 2 please proceed to the arena floor?"

In the Kage booth

"Why can't they stop destroying my precious arenas?" Hiruzen asked with anime tears flying everywhere.

The other Kage felt pity for the old man. Even Orochimaru, who was currently patting the old man's back. "There there sensei, it'll be alright."

On the arena floor

"Team 2 versus Maito Gai!"

"Shit!" Sasuke said.

"What's wrong?" Samui asked.

"It's-"

"Come pupil of my eternal rival! We must your FLAMES OF YOUTH!"

"Fuck!" Shino swore loudly enough that everyone in the area could hear him.

In the stands

"I agree with my son's assessment for this match," Aburame Shibi, Aburame clan head, and father of Shino said with little to no emotion.

"They're screwed," Yamanaka Inoichi said.

"Troublesome," Nara Shikaku said.

"You can say that again," Akimichi Chouza said.

On the arena floor

"Such unyouthful language!" Gai shouted. "We must re kindle your FLAMES OF YOUTH!"

"I will try to drain as much of his chakra as I can," Shino said.

"I'll attempt to put him in a genjutsu," Sasuke said as his Sharingan spun wildly.

"While you two do that, I'll try to get behind him and use a raiton technique to knock him unconscious," Samui said.

"Why not use the electricity seal on the bottom of your tanto?" Shino asked.

"I could use that too," Samui said.

"Alright, I'll go in first to distract him. Then Shino can place his bugs on him. When that's over with, I will keep him distracted until Samui can use her tanto's seal," Sasuke said. The other two nodded.

"What a youthful plan!" Gai's voice said from right behind the group, making them stiffen.

On reflex, both Shino and Sasuke's arms snapped out to catch Gai on either temple, while Samui's foot lashed out, catching Gai in the fork of his legs. The combined attack of all three, or mostly the pain of the last one in conjunction with the temple blows of the boys, instantaneously knocked the man unconscious.

All of the Konoha populace, and former Konoha populace, stared in shock as Gai went down that easily. All of the males watching the fight instinctively moved their hands to safeguard their genitals.

"Isn't that supposed to be impossible?" Genma asked Hayate.

"I thought so too," Hayate said.

The members of team two stared at their hands, or foot in Samui's case, in shock.

"Winners, team 2. Will team 3 please proceed to the arena floor?" Hayate's voice called out, interrupting team 2's contemplation.

In the Kage booth

"That was amazing," Mei said. "Are you sure he's a Jounin?"

"I dare you to get hit in the balls and both temples at the same time and still be conscious," Arano said.

"I would, but I don't have any balls," Mei said.

"You could have fooled me," Orochimaru muttered.

"What was that?" Mei shouted.

"Nothing!" Orochimaru said, voice tinted with fear.

"That's what I thought," Mei huffed.

On the arena floor

"Team 3 versus Hatake Kakashi!"

"Yo," Kakashi said as he appeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Kakashi-san, I will avenge my sensei's flames of youth!" Lee said, fire burning in his eyes.

"Hmm," Kakashi said. He reached back into his Kunai pouch, causing the genin to tense. The sweat dropped, along with the audience, when he pulled out a familiar orange book and began reading.

Lee pulled up his legwarmers and unsnapped his weights. He kicked them off, sending them flying at Kakashi. The jounin just turned sideways, allowing both sets of weights to pass right by him.

Lee charged at Kakashi and tried to engage him in combat. "Lesson one, taijutsu," Kakashi said calmly. "Never let your opponent get behind your back."

"Nani?" Lee asked as Kakashi appeared behind him.

"Konohagakure Taijutsu Ougi: Sennen Goroshi!" Kakashi said in a slightly louder than usual voice before Lee was launched into the air.

"Lee-kun!" Kin yelled, running forward.

Kakashi appeared in front of Kin as Lee crashed into the ground. "Lesson two, genjutsu," Kakashi said, just as calm as ever. He disappeared from Kin's view. Kin screamed out loud then fell to the ground.

Kakashi dodged a burst of wind. "It's my turn," Temari said.

"Lesson three, ninjutsu," Kakashi said, putting his orange book away. Temari sent another gust of wind at Kakashi. "Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!" Kakashi yelled out, before blowing a massive ball of fire that exploded on contact with the burst of wind.

A green blur dropped in front of Kakashi. The silver haired nin was forced to dodge as Lee became a blur of whirling legs and arms. "Lesson one, taijutsu!" Lee shouted at Kakashi who was hard-pressed to dodge.

He leaned back to avoid a kick to the face, but double over as he felt an impact in his stomach. "Lesson two, genjutsu," Kin's voice called out. He spun around to look at the smirking Kin. He narrowed his eyes as she pulled her arm back, causing the bells around Kakashi's feet to jingle.

Kakashi was tossed forward in a burst of wind. "Lesson three, ninjutsu!" Temari yelled. As Kakashi slammed into a wall he burst into smoke.

"Ma, ma," Kakashi said from a seated position in the only tree on the field. "It seems you defeated my Kage Bunshin." He dropped from the tree. "Proctor, I give up." He eye smiled as he vanished, only to reappear in the stands.

"Winner, team 3. Will team four please proceed to the arena floor?" Hayate called out.

When Omoi, Hinata, and Shikamaru were situated, Hayate called out, "Team four versus Shiranui Genma!"

"Nani?" Genma yelled, dropping his senbon.

"Your name was drawn," Hayate said. "Sorry."

"I will get you for this," Genma promised.

"I would be more focused on your competition if I were you," Hayate said.

Genma turned to see Hinata charging at him. "Well if that's how you want to play," Genma said. He moved to a defensive stance or tried to.

"Kage Mane success," Shikamaru said from directly behind Genma. Genma surged his chakra to his arm and forced it forward, breaking Shikamaru's hold. "That's fine, I was only a distraction anyway."

Genma's eyes widened as he turned forward to see Hinata almost on him. He held his arms up as Hinata launched Jyuuken strikes at the Jounin. A sharp jolt of electricity caused Genma's entire body to twitch.

"You're within range of my divination," Hinata smirked.

"Oh shit," Genma said.

"Hakke Rokujuuyon Shou!" Hinata yelled out, before launching at the jounin.

"Ni shou!" she yelled as she hit him twice.

"Yon shou!"She hit him twice more.

"Hachi shou!" She hit him with four strikes.

"Juuroku shou!" Eight strikes.

"Sanjuuni shou!" Sixteen hits.

"Rokujuuyon shou!" She cried out as she hit him thirty two final times.

Genma fell over limp. "Can someone help me up?"

"Team four is victorious!" Hayate yelled out. "There will now be a ten minute break before we continue the matches.


	37. Intermission 5

Intermission 5

Minato entered the hokage's office with a look of concern on his face. Seeing this, Hiruzen quickly dropped his paperwork and rushed over to the blonde man. "What's wrong?"

"I'm worried," Minato said.

"For who?" Hiruzen asked.

"The village, and my wife and son," Minato said.

"What happened?" Sarutobi asked.

"It all started a week ago," Minato said. "Naruto started spending more time with Kushina. At first I thought it was normal, because they only found each other recently, you know?" Hiruzen nodded. "But soon they were talking in hushed whispers with papers and maps all over the tables and floors. Whenever I or anyone else approached they would quickly seal the documents and such, and quit talking. They would just give me this look. I don't really understand it myself."

"Is there anything else?" Hiruzen asked.

"Yes. Both of them seemed to be stockpiling things. I don't know what they are, but there were blood seals that were keyed specifically to them and no one else," Minato said. "I even had Jiraiya-sensei try to crack one and he ended up in the hospital. And they've taken to making sure that their weapons are in perfect order, on a level that would scare even a Higurashi."

"This may be serious," Hiruzen said. "I'll have to look into this."

"I'm scared, Ojii-san. I'm scared like you wouldn't believe," Minato said frantically, his eyes widened drastically.

"Calm yourself Minato. You are…were a Kage. The likes of which were never before seen! You can handle this!" Hiruzen said, giving Minato a several slaps across the face.

"You're right" Minato said, regaining his composure. "Thank you."

"It was nothing, don't mention it," Hiruzen said.

"Sure thing," Minato agreed.

"People of Konohagakure no Sato, hear me!" a familiar voice yelled out from the top of the Hokage monument.

"Oh Kami!" Minato exclaimed. "It's Kushina!"

Atop the Monument was Kushina in her ANBU battle armor. Beside her was Naruto, in similar armor. "Today is the day of reckoning! Today, you will pay for all the torment you put my son through!"

"What's going on?" a civilian asked.

"I don't know," another answered.

"I'm scared," a child said.

Kushina drew her sword and pointed it sharply at the center of the village. "Today you shall have no mercy! You shall know fear like no other! Today your prayers will fall on deaf ears!" She hushed her tone to a whisper that only Naruto could hear. "On my signal." Naruto nodded, as Kushina brought her voice up again. "Now it BEGINS!"

Naruto made a single hand sign, and the chaos began. All across Konoha, bursts of smoke appeared. There were stink bombs going off all over the Inuzuka kennels, pheromones being released all over the village, attracting many different animals to all the villagers. Many ROOT shinobi burst from their hiding places, covered in scary clown masks.

The Hyuuga compound was hit with flash bombs, blinding them as Kage Bunshin painting everything pink. Even the pets and clothes. The Hyuuga's hair was dyed a lime green color.

The Aburame clan was hit a special pheromone that made the insects, for lack of a better word, high or drunk. The clansmen were trying to calm the bugs, and failing miserably.

The shop owners were distraught. Their stocks had been moved onto the roofs, and surrounded by barrier seals. The restaurants were plagued with food that glowed in neon colors. Even though the food was not that color.

The parks were overflowing with snakes, ravens, toads, foxes, and slugs of varying sizes. In the training grounds, the denizens of the forest of death woke in regular team training grounds. In the water were what looked like several of the elusive freshwater sharks.

The Torture and Interrogation headquarters had pigs running around the halls, and several flash seals around complex, blinding anyone who tried to catch one of the pigs.

The hospital… was untouched.

The hokage tower was covered with crude drawings of the intimate acts with various important people. Most of those important people were there to see it. Inside, Hiruzen was freaking out. His robes had changed into a pink and yellow floral dress. His hair had been dyed a sky blue color, and his feet were adorned with sparkly green high heels.

The ANBU got hit the worst. All of the masks had been changed out with geisha like face masks. They had special adhesive seals to keep them on the faces of the ANBU for 24 hours. The entire uniform had been changed to shades of pink, yellow, and lime green. All of it riddled with itching powder. The swords had been replaced with parasols in the shape of giant flowers.

The village was in chaos.

Kushina and Naruto turned towards the group of people behind them. The group consisted of Itachi, Kisame, all three of the Sannin, Anko, the Konohamaru Corp., Sasuke, Hinata, Haku, and Zabuza. Shortly afterward Minato stepped out into the clearing as well.

"Good job everyone," Kushina smiled. "Especially Tsunade, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Itachi. We couldn't have done it without you. So, who's up for some Ichiraku Ramen?"


	38. Intermission 6

INTERMISSION!

AN: For those that don't get it, and inevitably there will be many who won't, this intermission is based off of my latest story, Mindgames and Shadows. If you haven't checked it out yet, please do. Oh, and don't forget to review!

Iruka let out a sigh. He was sitting at the table in his kitchen with a cup of coffee in his hands. He was currently deep in thought. He was thinking about how things were going at the academy. Everything was going fine until Naruto showed up. Once the dark clothed kid turned up in Konoha, his class had become chaos.

With another sigh Iruka got up and headed for the academy. For once in his life he was going to be late, but he felt it was worth it.

XxXxX

"Naruto, he's coming," Shino said.

"Good, everyone get ready. Remember, if you feel you can't make it, use a henge," Naruto said.

The class nodded and everyone stared intently forward. When Iruka entered the classroom, he was pleasantly surprised that everyone was quiet. The he actually turned to see the students. The sight unnerved him a bit.

All of the students were wearing black clothes. The majority of them were wearing red trim, but a handful of them were wearing other colors. Naruto was wearing his indigo, Shino blue, Sasuke and Ayame green, and Ino yellow. All of them had their hoods up, hiding their eyes.

"Good morning class," Iruka said.

In monotonous unison, the class responded, "good morning Iruka-sensei."

"Okay, so everyone is present today?" Iruka asked.

"Hai sensei," the class responded, again in unison.

"If I may ask, why are you all dressed like that?" the chuunin asked.

"It's for the order," the class said.

"What order?" Iruka asked.

"THE order," the students responded.

"I see," Iruka said with a frown.

"You should join us," the class said.

"I would, but I have things to do," Iruka said.

"Join us," the students said.

"I can't," Iruka protested.

"Join us," the class reiterated.

"But I-"

"Join us," the class said as the stood up an floated into the air. The class floated towards a very frightened Iruka.

"No, I can't!" Iruka cowered back. The last thing he saw was a flash of pink lining in the black.

XxXxX

Naruto, Shino, and Sasuke were staring at Iruka, who had only taken a single step outside of his apartment before being overwhelmed by the 'Fear'.

"Why did we let Sakura join again?" Sasuke asked.

"Because despite being a pink haired fanshee, she is damn terrifying," Naruto said.

"And why does she get pink for her color state?" Shino asked.

"She was scary enough that even the three elders fear her, and she demanded pink," Naruto said. "However, on the plus side, since pink wasn't officially in our spectrum, she can't advance in rank."

"What about him?" Sasuke asked, pointing at Iruka.

"Meh," Naruto shrugged. "He'll be found later."


	39. Intermission 7: Insanity

Intermission: Insanity.

Naruto yelled in exhilaration as the air rushed by his face while he plummeted towards the dark bottom of a chasm at terminal velocity. The turbulent force winds pulled his smile back even farther than usual, making his foxy grin even more so. There were spikes sticking out of the walls, worn smooth by the waterfalls that came with the flooding spring rains.

Despite how loud the wind was, he was louder still with his proclamation, "This ride is AWESOME!" The blonde continued to fall into the abyss until his conscious self was sucked into his own mind.

XxXxX

"I think I screwed up big time," Jiraiya said as Sandaime Hokage and a large harem of Naruto's girls stared wide eyed and jaw dropped at what had happened to the blonde. "He was supposed to use this to tap into the Kyuubi's chakra. Not act like this was some sort of roller coaster."

"Jiraiya, if Naruto dies, I promise you will die in the most horrible ways imaginable," Ayame promised.

"Don't you mean way?" Jiraiya asked.

"No, I because I will heal you just as you die so that you come back to us," promised a much younger than she used to be Tsunade. "Each death will somehow involve that which makes you a man."

Jiraiya paled and quaked in fear. _'Come on brat, don't die. Summon something, damn it! SUMMON SOMETHING!' _

XxXxX

Naruto sat up. He was sitting in what was, to him, knee deep water. "I didn't think it was bath time yet. Where's my rubber ducky?" The only response was a deep growl down one of the side passages of the strange rectangular sewer. "That sounds like the ducky to me!"

The blonde proceeded down the passage way, walking on his hands, using chakra to keep above the water. He was muttering to himself about not being able to take a bath without the ducky, and how Kami would skin him alive if he did. Finally he made his way to a tall room with a set of bars at the back.

"**Come closer kid,"** a voice called from the other side of the bars.

"That's not ducky," the blonde muttered to himself with a tight frown. With a shrug he took an eight of a half of a quarter of a step forward.

"**Closer than that, brat," **the deep voice called. Naruto took another eighth of a half of a quarter of a step forward. Naruto could almost feel the twitch of the eye of whatever it was that was talking to him was. **"Come here and stand in front of this cage!"**

"Why didn't you say so in the first place?" the blonde asked. There was a loud splash of water as whatever was behind the bars face faulted while Naruto was walking up to the cage. When he was in front of the cage, a massive set of claws raked down at the boy swiftly, the dim light reflecting off of them. There was only one thought going through his head at the time. _'Ooh, shiny!" _

As the claws neared the boy, a smaller set of bars sprung out horizontally, stopping the claw just a hair's breadth away from the boys head. **"If it wasn't for this accursed seal in place, I would be able to get you." **

Naruto looked up to see a small paper with the kanji for 'seal' written on it. He quickly jumped up and snatched the paper off of the bars. As he did so, red chakra blasted the gate open.

XxXxX

"Oh shit!" Everyone on the top of the cliff swore as they felt the intense pressure of Kyuubi's chakra from the chasm.

XxXxX

"**Why did you do that brat?" **the Kyuubi asked.

"Because I wanted to give you a hug!" the blonde boy yelled. "And I know that you wanted to give me one too!"

"**What?" **the fox laughed. **"I did not! I wanted to- wait, what are you doing? No stay back! Don't come near me! I'm warning you!" **Its tone shifted as Naruto approached it, his arms opening wide. The fox blasted him with a burst of its chakra, only for it bounced off for some reason. Kyuubi tried many more attacks, none of them working. _**'Why isn't it working? WHY?' **_

"HUG!" Naruto shouted as he leapt at the massive fox.

"**No, no, no! NO!" **Kyuubi yelled. Soon its screams of fear and trauma could be heard all throughout Naruto's mindscape. Shortly afterward, Kyuubi willingly forced his chakra onto the boy in an effort to get him to leave him alone.

XxXxX

Just as Naruto's unconscious form neared the bottom of the chasm, a burst of Kyuubi's chakra erupted from the boy, cushioning his landing. Ten minutes later Jiraiya and Hiruzen were at with him, checking on him, relieved he was alright. Hiruzen shunshined the boy to the hospital to recover and perhaps to have a Yamanaka check up on him.

XxXxX

"Naruto?" a soft female voice came from behind the boy. He spun around to see a worried woman with long red hair in a tan drew with a blue blouse underneath and a worried and confused man with blonde spiky hair wearing a white sleeveless robe.

"Do you know who we are?" the man asked.

"You look kind of like me," Naruto pointed at the man. The man smiled. "I know, YOU'RE AN IMPOSTOR TRYING TO LOOK LIKE ME TO GAIN ATTENTION!" The man face faulted.

"No you baka! I'm your father!" the man shouted.

"And I'm your mother," the red haired woman said.

"Really?" Naruto asked. Both adults nodded. "HUGS!" the boy yelled before launching himself at the pair. He slipped through them as they began to fade. "What? No you don't." He interrupted their sad smiles and fading by flooding their forms with chakra. "You're staying with me!" Then he proceeded to hug them and bombard them with his particular brand of insanity.

XxXxX

"Are you sure this is a good idea Hokage-sama?" asked a dark blonde haired man. He had his long hair in ponytail that fell over his black T.I. trench coat, made out of real sheepskin.

"Yes Inoichi," Hiruzen sighed.

"Very well," Inoichi sighed, turning to the blonde. Whispering his techniques name so as not to alert anyone, his mind entered the blonde boy's.

He heard the sound of whimpering in the corner of a sewer. He turned to see two adults cowering against a cowering Kyuubi. "Minato? Kushina? Kyuubi? What's going on here, where's the seal?"

Rather than answer the blonde, the trio's eyes widened. A shadow fell over Inoichi. He spun to see a giant version of Naruto. "HUGS!" Naruto yelled.

Inoichi yelled in fear, forcing himself to return to his body. As soon as he was out, he burst up from his chair, startling the Hokage, and dashed out of the hospital. He was found three hours later drunk and curled up against an equally drunk Anko as the former cowered in fear and the latter soothing him, cooing, "I know your pain, you're not alone."


	40. finals pt 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

AN: Sorry for the late update. My muse decided to take a LONG nap. Anyway, here is the next installment of Village of the Bijuu.

Hayate looked the chuunin hopefuls. Somehow all twelve of them had managed to get to this point of the finals. There were two sets left to go through. An idea formed in his mind. "Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto and Rock Lee, please come forward." When the two stepped forward, Hayate moved one to one side, and one to the other. "You will pick your next team for the next set. Each team will consist of six people, yourselves included."

"OSSU!" Lee shouted, giving a salute.

"Sure thing," Naruto said.

"Lee, you can go first," Hayate said.

Lee looked intently over the group. "Omoi-san!" The white haired boy walked over to stand with Lee.

Hayate looked at Naruto. "Your turn."

'_I think I get it. This is to see if we can make a good team. Well, time to surprise!' _Naruto thought. "Shikamaru!" The lazy ninja walked over to the blonde boy muttering something about troublesome blondes.

Lee looked into the crowd again. "Toshi-san!"

Naruto gave a brief glance. "Shino." The bug user nodded and appeared behind Naruto via Mushi Shunshin.

"Temari-san!" Lee shouted, causing the blonde to go over to him.

"Kin," Naruto said. The long haired girl walked over to Naruto.

"Samui-san!" Lee yelled.

"Sasuke," Naruto said.

Lee looked between Zaku and Hinata, the only two people left. He seemed to be judging carefully. "Zaku-san!"

"Now that the teams have been decided, please return to the competitor's booth until the ten minute break is over.

All of the contestants made their way to the small room, before breaking off into teams.

"Alright Naruto, what's with this team?" Sasuke asked.

"I believe that the making of the team may have been another test," Naruto said. "A test to see if we could form a proper team. I decided to make a well balanced team."

"So why pick me?" Shikamaru said.

Naruto grinned at the pineapple haired boy. "You are going to be our team's strategist. Besides, just look at Lee. Would you rather be on his team?"

Naruto stared at the green wearing boy, who was in the middle of during a semi-rigorous work out. In Lee terms, a very light workout. Shikamaru shuddered. "That team is more troublesome," Shikamaru said.

"As you can see, Lee built his team for strength and power," Naruto said. "This team, however, is balanced." He started pointing at each of the team members, telling them what their purpose was. "Kin, you are all around support. Your genjutsu should help all of us, no matter who or what we face. Shino, you are also support. Your Kikaichu bugs can drain an enemy's chakra. Shikamaru, you already know. Sasuke, you are one of the heavy hitters, along with myself. Hinata, you are both combat and support. With your Jyuuken, you can easily take out most enemies, and with your healing salves you can help keep our guys in tip top shape." Everyone nodded as Naruto explained their role. "Shikamaru, start working on plans."

"Will team Uzumaki please report to the field?" Hayate called from the floor.

The team simply jumped over the edge of the railing, except for poor Shikamaru who was pushed over by an irate Kin. When they looked around, they were astounded. The entire field had been reverted to its normal form. The only thing out of place was the set of plat forms that were raised from the ground at odd intervals.

"These two rounds are the semi-finals," Hayate announced. "In this match you will fight a minor demon from Oni no Kuni."

XxXxX

"Are you sure this is safe, Hokage-dono?" Arano asked.

"Perfectly safe. I have several jounin stationed around the arena to restrain the beast if it gets out of hand," Hiruzen said. "Besides, I'm sure they can handle it."

"This is a very interesting match you have here, sensei," Orochimaru said. "I don't think I've ever seen a chuunin exam such as this."

"It is different for sure," E said. "The written test and survival tests seemed common place, but this more than makes up for it."

"I hope this ends well," Mei said. "Many have shown chuunin potential even though this isn't a one-on-one battle set."

"The strategy shows more clearly when you have more people," Hiruzen said. "And if you remember, they did the one-on-one fights for the preliminaries."

"Most didn't really show much then," Arano said. "But they get to show it now."

"They are showing it well," E said.

"Oh, look," Orochimaru said. "It's starting."

XxXxX

Naruto's team stared at the beast in front of them. It was a quadruped, with thick muscles that rippled with each movement. It seemed to have a deep golden color fur. Its tail was long and sinewy, tipped with three blades. The demons head had a long snout filled with many jagged teeth, many horns six eyes. Standing at full height, the beast's head was level with Naruto's.

"Okay Shikamaru, what's our plan?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, flank left. Sasuke, take the right. Both of you watch for the tail. Hinata, go in under Sasuke's shadow, get underneath it. Shino use your bugs to block its vision. Kin, genjutsu now!" Shikamaru barked out.

Without waiting, everyone took off. Naruto and Sasuke drew their swords as they dashed to the side, Hinata trailing Sasuke. They waited until Shino's bugs were blocking the things vision before attacking.

Kin quickly tossed her belled senbon in several directions near the demon. With a quick hand sing her bells started ringing with the most powerful genjutsu that Kin knew. Within moments the beast was attacking imaginary foes, while ignoring the real threat.

Shino had his bugs cover the beast's elongated face, blocking its nostrils and ear canals and covering its face, effectively blinding the creature. It was no surprise when the demon started thrashing about, trying to hit something. The only response to its actions was for the ninja to jump out of its reach.

"Naruto, Sasuke," Shikamaru shouted as his shadow connected with the beasts." Attack now!"

The two sword wielding shinobi rushed in. Sasuke using slower but heavier blows on the beasts side while Naruto unleashed a flurry of lighter, shallower strikes. The boys jumped back to avoid its tail as it tried to swat at them, roaring in pain, anger, and frustration.

As Sasuke hopped back, Hinata rolled forward, ending up right underneath the belly of the demon. With several Jyuuken strikes, she mostly paralyzed it. She dived out from underneath the monster as its legs would no longer support its weight.

Naruto and Sasuke lunged in. Stopping just short of the creature, blades at its throat. Shino's bugs left the demon's face, giving it unobstructed view. It looked at Naruto and Sasuke with mournful eye tinged with fear. They looked up at Hayate.

"Call it," Sasuke said.

"Aren't you going to kill it?" Hayate asked.

"No," both boys said sharply to the jounin, startling him.

"When the exams are over, you will release it back into Oni no Kuni," Naruto said.

"Sure thing," Hayate said. He turned to the audience. "Winners, team Uzumaki Namikaze!"

As the beast shakily stood up, it gave Sasuke and Naruto a grateful look before shambling into its holding cell.

"Weird," Sasuke said to Naruto as the boys followed the rest of their team up into the competitor's booth.

"I've seen weirder," Naruto said. "And scarier."

"What have you seen that was scarier?" Sasuke asked.

"You remember when we were nine, and I came back from the bathroom really scared?" Naruto asked. Sasuke nodded. "Well I had heard some strange sounds from the Fugaku-san's office and went to check it out."

"What did you see?" Sasuke asked.

"It was your parents," Naruto said on the verge of a nervous breakdown. "Doing things. Ultra mature content things."

Sasuke shivered as he noticed Naruto shaking badly. He patted Naruto on the back in an attempt to comfort him. "There there," the raven haired boy told his blonde 'brother'. "You don't have to see the scary images anymore."

"What's with him?" Temari asked.

"He is remembering something scary," Sasuke said.

"Soooooo much leather," Naruto said with wide eyes, freaking everyone out, "so many adult toys."

"Will team Rock please report to the field?" Hayate called.

The members of Lee's team quickly left the traumatized blonde in the room and appeared on the field.

As soon as they brought out a demon, similar to the one Naruto's team had fought, the battle began. The demon Lee's team had to fight was slightly smaller and darker.

"Alright Lee, what's the plan?" Temari asked.

"I do not have a plan, Temari-san!" Lee cried out. "I shall just defeat the beast! No plan can compare to the FLAMES OF YOUTH!" Without waiting for a response, Lee charged the beast before wailing on it.

XxXxX

"He wouldn't happen to be related to Maito Gai, would he?" Mei asked.

"Related? I have no idea," Hiruzen said. "However, he is Gai's star pupil.

"I see," E said. "He does favor Gai's style heavily."

"Does he wear weights very often as well?" Arano asked.

"I believe he wears them all the time," Orochimaru said.

"How much?" E asked, highly interested.

"Enough to make craters in my concrete floors," Hiruzen cried, tears flowing heavily from his eyes.

"I thought getting super emotional was your thing," Mei said to E.

"I thought so too," E responded, causing the last two Kage to sweat drop.

XxXxX

"Zaku, I want you to fire off air waves at that things head! Omoi, use your sword and get up close. Samui, I need some raiton," Temari shouted. "Toshi, while we stall for time I want you to gather enough water to use a water prison on that thing."

Everyone nodded and took off. Omoi shifted his sucker to the other side of his mouth as he drew his sword and charged the demon's left side. Samui took off to the beast's left flank and Toshi to the beast's right flank.

"Lee jump!" Temari yelled. Swinging her fan she launched an attack. "Kamaitachi no Jutsu!"

Lee saw the attack and leapt high into the air. The massive winds pushed the creature back, cutting deep into parts of its skin. Lee did a series of flips to build momentum and landed a smashing axe kick on the rear of the beast, shattering the bones of one of its legs.

Omoi leapt in, sweeping several attacks on its side and tail. The demon whipped its head around to point in Omoi's direction. It opened its mouth and began to charge chakra before firing a beam off at the white haired boy.

Omoi leaned back as far as he could, and let the beam pass by him. He landed on his hands before springing off backwards. Samui rushed in to cover him while he recovered.

"Raiton: Inazuma!" the blonde girl yelled out, launching a large bolt of lightning from her hands, which were pointed directly at the beast.

"Suiton: Suiro no Jutsu!" Toshi said as he leapt over the monster. "Got you." His smirk vanished a moment later as the beast easily broke out of the water prison. It snapped its tail, launching Toshi into the nearby wall. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.

The beast turned and launched another beam at the rushing Lee, who easily leapt over the chakra based attack. While he was in the air, the demon snapped its head sideways, hitting Lee with a full-body impact. The spandex wearing boy was sent crashing into the wall on the other side of the arena.

"Damn!" Omoi swore under his breath.

Zaku ran up the wall, leaping off in a back flip. When he was above the beast, he aimed his hands downward. "Zankyokukuuha!"

The massive air attack drove the beast into the ground. Unfortunately, it's head snapped up and caught Zaku on his torso, sending the boy a third section of the arena's wall.

XxXxX

"That demon seems to be in a bad mood compared to the other one," Arano said.

"Indeed," Orochimaru agreed.

"She's angry," Mei said.

"How do you know it's a she?" E asked.

"Do you really think a male could be that controlled while decimating a group like that?" Mei asked.

"No," the four male Kage responded, while Mei smirked, giving a thumbs up to Kushina behind her.

XxXxX

"I got this," Omoi proclaimed, stepping in front of the two blonde females as he sheathed his sword. He assumed a wide stance with his hands held in front of him. "Ranton: Reizaa Saakasu!"

Several beams of light emerged from the dark skinned nin's hands. Each beam crashed into the demon before exploding. The beast roared at the trio before charging another attack as Omoi sank to his knees in exhaustion. The three's eyes opened wide seeing the attack become more massive than before.

XxXxX

"Shit!" Hiruzen exclaimed, signaling to his jounin to move.

XxXxX

Before anyone could blink, a massive chakra signature erupted on the field, followed by Lee's yelling voice. "Kaimon, Kai! Kyumon, Kai! Seimon, Kai! Shomon, Kai! Tomon, Kai!"

In the blink of an eye, a red skinned and white eyed Lee appeared in front of the beast, launching a kick into its lower jaw. The attack caused the chakra beam to shoot harmlessly into the sky. Without hesitating, Lee launched a devastating flurry of attacks on the beast, rendering it unconscious. After he was assured of his team's safety, Lee resealed the gates and fell out himself.

"Can any of you continue?" Hayate asked the three conscious contenders. Samui and Temari nodded while Omoi shook his head.

"Lee, Zaku, Toshi, and Omoi are unable to continue. Temari and Samui pass to the next round!" Hayate announced as med-nin appeared on the arena floor, gathering those who could not continue. The two girls to turned to leave. "Stay." He turned to the competitor's booth. "Will all remaining contenders please report to the field?"

The group of chuunin hopefuls stood in a rough formation of eight people. "Are we done yet?" Shikamaru yawned.

"Almost," Hayate said as the Hokage stood up in his booth.

"These eight shinobi are all that is left of the chuunin exams," Hiruzen announced. "However, I propose one last treat. A fight between Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto!" The crowds roared at the prospect. "Then will the other six examinees please go to the stands?"

"Single match between Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto," Hayate announced as both boys wearily took their stances.

"Swords only?" Naruto asked.

"Sure, why not?" Sasuke retorted as the two boys drew their sword, Naruto with his katana and Sasuke with his zanbatou.

"Are both contestants ready?" Hayate asked as both boys nodded. "Hajime!"

AN: I would write more, but my muse only woke for a bathroom break. In the meantime, review!


	41. Naruto Vs Sasuke

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I assume that everyone knows this by now.

AN: YAY! A new fight! I hope I didn't disappoint anyone with my version of the finals. If I did, oh well, I can't change it. Or I could, but I'm too lazy too. Anyway, after you read this chapter please review.

"Are both contestants ready?" Hayate asked as both boys nodded. "Hajime!"

Hayate vanished from view as both Naruto and Sasuke dashed at each other. There was a loud ring throughout the stadium as the two boys' blades met. Naruto pulled back his katana and started launching rapid blows at the Uchiha. Due to the large size of his sword, Sasuke could only rotate the sword to block.

"You have some good tactics," Sasuke complemented as he blocked another blow.

"Of course," Naruto said after a series of thrusts and jabs. "I have to be quick to keep you from swinging that massive piece of metal around. It might actually hurt to get hit by it."

"Let's see how you handle it then!" Sasuke exclaimed as he swung around the handle, launching a kick at Naruto's face.

The blonde boy jumped back to avoid the blow. Sasuke smirked and spun around, swinging his blade in a horizontal arc, forcing Naruto to duck. The raven haired boy continued his spin and brought the blade up and over his head, before slashing downward. Naruto dodged to the side and launched another flurry of blows at Sasuke.

Sasuke once again brought his zanbatou up to block. This time, however, he managed to flick the blade out by pulling sharply on the end of the handle using his off hand, his main hand acting as pivot point. Naruto rolled to the side and leapt into the air to dodge as Sasuke launched a thrust with his massive blade.

XxXxX

"They're good," E said. "Although they might be able to learn a thing or two from my brother."

The other Kage looked behind E to where Kirabi was tied up with chakra resistant ropes, a piece of duct tape covering his mouth.

"Are you sure about that?" Mei asked.

"He is bound and gagged so as not to pollute us with that thing he calls rapping," E said. "It would be an embarrassment if did."

"I see," Arano said in a tone that stated otherwise. "However, you are correct about those boys. They are skilled."

"They have both had many teachers," Hiruzen said. "However, I think I may have Hayate train young Naruto in his style."

"It wouldn't fit Naruto," Minato said. "The style Hayate uses is more for distracting an enemy while you sneak into place to deliver a single deathly blow. Naruto, though sly and sneaky like Kushina, prefers to fight up close and personal in an in-your-face manner. Also like Kushina."

Said red head was also temperamental. She proved this by launching a strong fist into Minato's gut. Then she gave the Kage a look that dared them to say anything.

"Anyway," Hiruzen said. "They both show potential with their chosen weapons."

"They do indeed," Orochimaru said blandly.

XxXxX

Naruto leapt into the air, using gravity to help launch a devastating blow at Sasuke. The raven haired boy quickly placed his zanbatou in the air, tilting it at an angle so that the blow would slide off. He thrust his sword into the ground before spinning around to launch another kick at the blonde.

"You can't use the same trick twice against me!" Naruto roared as he caught Sasuke's foot.

Sasuke smirked and twisted in place, launching his other foot at Naruto's head. Naruto dropped his sword and caught the other foot, only for Sasuke to twist again. This time, he ripped his first foot from Naruto's grasp before slamming it down towards Naruto's head. The blonde leaned forward, taking the blow on his upper back before dropping to the ground to pick up his sword and rolling to the side as Sasuke launched another smashing blow to the ground where the blonde was previously at.

XxXxX

"Those two don't hold back, do they?" Temari asked as she stared at the two fighting boys.

"Hold back?" Hinata asked incredulously. "What's that?"

"I too would like to know what this word means," Lee said as he entered the booth wrapped in more bandages than usual. He had also had crutches, but he didn't seem to be using them, though he winced with anything more than a slight movement.

"Konoha doesn't believe in holding back," Shino stated.

"Speak for yourself," Shikamaru said with a yawn.

"With the exception of team ten, Konoha doesn't believe in holding back," Hinata clarified.

"What about that Sakura girl from the preliminaries?" Samui asked.

"Fanshees don't count," Shino said.

"But-," Temari protested.

"Don't count," Shikamaru said fiercely.

"You must hate fangirls then," Samui said.

"They are the true scourge of Konoha," Shino said.

"They must burn," Shikamaru said uncharacteristically.

"They will in time my brethren," Hinata assured them. "But first we must convert Naruto-kun."

"We're never going to get them then, are we?" Shikamaru slumped in depression.

"Never," Shino agreed, equally depressed.

"I think there is something wrong with Konoha shinobi," Temari whispered to Samui. Her fellow blonde only nodded.

XxXxX

"Oi, Naruto!" Sasuke called out to his opponent. "The crowd wants to see some action, so let's raise the stakes."

"Jutsu?" Naruto asked, getting a vicious grin from Sasuke. "Okay then."

"Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!" Sasuke yelled before firing off a massive ball of fire at the blonde.

"Doton: Daidoryuuheki!" Naruto yelled, causing a massive wall of earth to rise from the ground. He grinned at the look of surprise on Sasuke's face as the wall re-submerged. "Shocking isn't it? Jiraiya-sama actually taught me something during our month long training period. Well, quite a few somethings really. Like this! Doton: Domu!" Naruto's body turned dark brown, almost black.

"Is that all you've got?" Sasuke asked. "That's not so bad. I've seen better."

"Heh," Naruto smirked. "Just try to hit me."

"You're on!" Sasuke yelled as he charged his blonde counterpart.

Sasuke swung his zanbatou at Naruto, expecting the blonde to dodge. However, what the blonde did was not expected. With a hand he stopped Sasuke's attack, grabbing the blade of the massive sword. He tugged the blade sharply, pulling the Uchiha towards him, before launching a kick at Sasuke's gut.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan when Naruto began the pull, so he saw through Naruto's ploy. He released his blade and used both hands to launch himself off of Naruto's leg and over him. He formed a single hand sign. "Raiton: Shirube-ha!"

A wave of electricity flowed from Sasuke to his sword. The electricity ran from the blade straight into Naruto's hand, cancelling his technique. Naruto ignored the effects of the electricity in his body and dropped the massive sword by willpower alone.

As the blade fell to the ground, Naruto twisted in the air and launched a kick at the pommel, sending the blade flying towards Sasuke. The Uchiha ducked backwards, allowing the blade to fly over him before his arm snapped up, grabbing the handle of the blade. He brought it up just in time to block another flurry of blows from Naruto.

"Not bad," Naruto said as he took out another sword. "Hinata-chan loaned me this blade for just in case. Well, let's go."

'_Shit!' _Sasuke swore mentally. He picked up his speed to keep up with two swords rather than the one he was using.

Naruto backed up a bit, holding his blade in an X shape. "Ni Haji!"

Two waves of chakra emerged from his swords, flying at Sasuke. The raven haired boy jumped into the air, zanbatou over his head. He swung it down with all the strength he could muster.

"Sakugen Muko!" Sasuke yelled, unleashing his own wave of chakra.

The waves met halfway between the two boys, kicking up a good amount of dust. When the dust cleared both boys were staring each other down, breathing heavily. Naruto had sheathed Hinata's sword. Both the boys were in a ready stance.

"We'll settle this with one last attack," Sasuke gasped between breaths.

"You got it," Naruto said.

Both the boys' blades began to glow with the amount of chakra being channeled into them. At some invisible signal, both boys charged forward. With a fierce battle cry, the two swords met in the center, unleashing a massive explosion that reached to the edges of the stadium, sending both boys rocketing outward at high speeds. A jounin appeared behind each obviously unconscious boy, catching them to prevent further harm. Kakashi caught Sasuke while Anko caught Naruto.

"Don't you know the meaning of the word enough?" Anko whispered to the unconscious boy. "Still, you really impressed a lot of the people here. Maybe they'll see you as more than 'The Kyuubi Brat.'"

As Anko headed to the exit, Kakashi appeared next to her with the form of Sasuke over his shoulder. "It seems they overdid it. Again."

"Perhaps," Anko grinned. "But you heard the crowd. Naruto is finally getting some form of proper attention from people now."

"It's about time," Kakashi said. "I have two main worries though." Anko cocked her head to the side. "The village still might not see him for him, but rather as an idol."

"It happens all the time with actors. All they have to do is spend more time with their fans," Anko shrugged.

"I'm also worried that he might let it get to his head," Kakashi said.

"That might be a more reasonable worry," Anko agreed. "However, if his ego gets too big, we'll always be there to pop it. After all, nothing deflates an enormous ego faster than a public beat down."

"You have a point," Kakashi sighed.

"So, when is my _sensei,_" she spat the word out as if it were venom, "supposed to launch his invasion?"

"Apparently he has spies in high places as well," Kakashi said. "He found out about Suna's return to our side, coupled with the fact that there are five other Kage and their jounin here, and decided against an invasion."

"Coward," Anko muttered. "At least I would have done it, if only to show that I wasn't a spineless pussy."

"Here we are," Kakashi said, opening the door to the infirmary. "It's not much, but at least it's not the hospital."

"Twenty bucks says that Naruto still tries to break out," Anko smirked.

Kakashi gave her a look as the pair set their burdens onto separate cots. "Even Tsunade-sama wouldn't take that bet. And she runs the hospital now."

"Move it!" a female voice yelled from the hall. There was a slight pause. "I don't give a damn if the Rikudo Sennin was in there! I'm going to see my son, so move damn you!"

"Kushina-sensei is quite vocal when she wants something, huh?" Anko asked.

"That's right, you were on the genin team under Kushina before you became Orochimaru's pupil," Kakashi mused. "Well, we better go save the unfortunate medic."

The pair exited the infirmary and turned right to see medic-nin with flaring chakra scalpels facing Kushina, who had a Katana of her own drawn and at the medic's neck.

"Ma ma," Kakashi said in a placating tone. "There's no need to fight. Medic-san, Kushina-san's son is there. I'm certain that you don't want to keep her away from her family, family that she only met for the first time about a month and a half ago, now would you?"

"No," the medic said in a strained voice. "She can go."

Faster than even the jounin could follow, Kushina's sword was in its seal on her palm and she herself was smiling brightly. "Thank you medic-san!" The medic was silent as the red headed woman went into the infirmary.

"Anko, I think she may be scarier than you," Kakashi said.

"You can say that again," Anko agreed.

Kakashi turned to the medic. "You may want to change your clothes."

Anko looked over to the medic. He did indeed need to change his clothes. The reason for this is that under the extreme killing intent, accompanied by a weapon and a psychotic red head, the medic had literally pissed his pants.

AN: Yay! I'm done with this chapter. Now remember to review. Have fun!


	42. Intermission 8

Intermission time!

AN: Before I begin, I must state that at least one of the Icha Icha novels was in fact written by Naruto. If you do not believe me, check out the episode with the mail-ninja.

AN2: This particular intermission is using the manga/anime version of team 7, not mine.

"Alright we're here!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Urusei!" Sakura hissed, smashing a fist onto Naruto's head. "We can't let them know we're coming or it will be impossible for us to retrieve the scroll!"

"Oh!" Naruto pounded a fist onto his other hand. "I get it. Let's go get the scroll!"

"Baka!" Sasuke chided. "You can't just go up there, knock on the door, and ask them to give you the scroll, dobe."

"He's right Naruto," Sakura said. "We need to set out a plan first."

Both the raven haired boy and pink haired girl laid out many materials. They took stock of what they had, before Sakura smiled. Sasuke looked up into her face to see that she already had a plan. Kakashi just watched in amusement.

"Okay, when night falls, we'll have Naruto use his shadow clones to create a diversion," Sakura said. "Then, we'll go in through one of the windows. Sasuke will use his Sharingan to detect any traps and I will disable them. We'll get to the vault where Kakashi-sensei will use his raikiri to demolish the locks. Naruto will join up with us and he will open the vault. Then we grab the scroll and run."

"Good plan, right Naruto?" Sasuke asked. Silence. "Naruto?"

"Kakashi-sensei, have you seen Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"I'm right here," the orange wearing blond jumped into the clearing. He pulled a scroll out of his pocket. "And I got the scroll we were after?"

"How?" Sasuke asked.

"I went up to the door, knocked and asked for it like you said to," Naruto said as Kakashi started to chuckle.

At the expressions on the other two's faces, both Naruto and Kakashi started laughing.

Now that I have your attention, I must ask you to review.


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